Three of 5 drug generals report to PNP
A day after being publicly accused by President Duterte of protecting drug syndicates, three ranking police officers reported yesterday to national police chief Director General Ronald de la Rosa to profess their innocence and seek due process.
Former National Capital Region Police Office ( NCRPO) chief Director Joel Pagdilao, former Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director Chief Supt. Edgar Tinio and former Western Visayas regional director Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz arrived one after the other at De la Rosa’s office at
Camp Crame yesterday morning.
The two other officers tagged by Duterte were already retired and did not report to De la Rosa. They were former deputy directorgeneral Marcelo Garbo Jr. and former chief superintendent Vicente Loot, now a town mayor in Cebu.
“They were very sad. I want to cry with them,” De la Rosa said of the three officers. “My advice to them is face the music.” He declined to give details of his meeting with Pagdilao, Tinio and Diaz.
“What we talked about was purely intimate and personal. I cannot discuss it in public,” he said.
“They wanted to explain their side. I listened to their side. We all agreed that (we have no control of the situation); the information is coming from the President,” he added.
But De la Rosa defended Duterte’s accusing the five police generals on live television.
“The President is a good lawyer and he has been a prosecutor for a very long time. He would not have talked if he had no basis. I’m sure he has basis,” he said.
“We have no power to confront him or compel him to reveal his sources of information. He’s the President and you can’t confront him at my level,” De la Rosa stressed.
He said he has referred the case of the three active officers to the National Police Commission ( Napolcom) “since the instruction from President was to report to me and to have Napolcom do their thing – meaning to make a proper investigation,” he added.
He said Diaz was the first to show up at 8:30 a.m. Pagdilao and Tinio would follow later.
De la Rosa said the three generals vowed to fully cooperate with Napolcom in its investigation. “They assured me that they will give their 100-percent cooperation to the investigation,” he pointed out.
When he faced the media, the Philippine National Police chief was with members of the PNP Command group and directorial staff to show the institution’s solidarity in the face of these challenges.
“They are here because this concerns the PNP. We have to be one,” he said.
Despite the “turmoil” in the organization, De la Rosa said his men’s morale is “very high.”
He said the developments unfolding were “part and parcel” of efforts to improve the image of the PNP.
“We’ll take it positively and we’re still on high morale,” he added.
Floating status
Pagdilao, Tinio and Diaz have been on floating status since July 1 when De la Rosa began a revamp in the PNP.
“In fairness to them, they’ve been fighting since Day 1 when they were still 2nd Lieutenant,” and thus are still entitled to salaries and allowances.
“They worked hard to get their ranks. So even if they are floating, they deserve to receive their salaries,” he added.
A police director receives P153,372 monthly salary while a chief superintendent gets P143,453, including allowances.
Malacañang, for its part, said there is no need for President Duterte at the moment to present evidence against the five active and retired police officers he had tagged as protectors of drug syndicates, out of respect for their right to due process.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar made the clarification in a text message yesterday as the police officers demanded due process, saying the accusation was black propaganda.
“The evidence (documentary or testimonial) against the named generals should not be released yet as it may prejudice the administrative and criminal investigation/s & case/s against them,” Andanar said.
“A premature release through the media may also violate the constitutional right to due process of those involved,” he added.
Holding off the release of evidence, he added, would avoid jeopardizing ongoing police investigation into the alleged involvement of the five in drug trafficking.
Duterte named the five police officers in a televised speech at the commemoration of the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force in Clark Field, Pampanga last Tuesday.
The President also said his fight against drug syndicates would be dirty. “It’s going to be a bloody fight. I am not apologizing for it,” he said.
He stressed he was taking full responsibility for the deaths of drug traffickers and peddlers at the hands of law enforcers.
“Mine and mine alone. I assume full legal responsibility for it,” Duterte said in his speech. He also directed the Napolcom to make sure its investigation of the five officers would not turn into a zarzuela.
Also yesterday, Napolcom vice chairman Rogelio Casurao admitted the case would be a big challenge to the commission, but vowed to complete its investigation in seven days.
The commission, he said, has begun validating pieces of evidence to establish probable cause that would justify the filing of criminal charges against the active officers.
“The task of Napolcom is to validate the pieces of evidence to establish probable cause,” Casurao said. “We assure the public that the investigation will not drag on. The directive to us is to complete the investi- gation within seven days.
“This case is a big challenge to us. Full force of the law will be applied without sacrificing due process,” he added.
“We will limit our investigation to the three police officers who are still in active service,” Casurao said.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno earlier formed two teams – from the department and Napolcom – to investigate the PNP generals.
“This early, all Napolcom will rely on will be intelligence reports. This passes through a lot of stages, validation,” he added.
He admitted the Napolcom has no intelligence database.
He stressed the “worst penalty” the Napolcom could impose on the police generals if they were proven guilty would be dismissal from the service. He revealed it would be the first time for Napolcom to investigate police generals.
At the same time, Sueno said the DILG would deal with the allegations against Loot since the latter is now a town mayor.
In Quezon province, four policemen with the rank of PO1 have been dismissed over allegations of drug peddling.
But the four, whose names have been withheld, claimed their officers had forced them to sell seized drugs.
They were assigned at the Patnanungan police station.
Senior Supt. Eugenio Paguirigan, Quezon police director, said the four have been disarmed and moved to the Provincial Holding Service while under investigation.
The four, who tested negative for drugs, are facing both criminal and administrative charges.