Bato sacks cops in Lacson video

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa relieved yesterday 10 police officers seen on video allegedly planting illegal drugs during a raid on an office last October.

“The PNP chief has already ordered an investigation and relieved the people involved,” Director Oscar Albayalde, chief of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), said in a news briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Albayalde said the 10 policemen were members of the NCRPO Special Operations Task Group. He declined to identify them.

Officials at the NCRPO and Camp Crame are mum about the identities of the police officers.

According to Albayalde, the officers were transferred to the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU).

Asked if Senior Supt. Eleazar Matta, chief of the NCRPO Regional Intelligence Division

(RID) is among those relieved, Albayalde said Matta is not included in the list. He said the highest ranked officer is a chief inspector.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, during a Senate public hearing on Thursday on the killing of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo, showed footage from a closed- circuit television ( CCTV) camera taken last Oct. 26 wherein policemen raided an office.

The police officers clad in civilian clothes inspected the desks of employees.

Another could be seen placing something in the drawers, which Lacson believes were illegal drugs.

Albayalde did not divulge where exactly the raid took place. It is not clear if this was the operation on Oct. 26 where 61 foreigners, mostly Chinese nationals, were captured for alleged involvement in illegal drugs during the raid on the Multinational Bancorporation Center in Salcedo Village, Makati City.

Albayalde clarified that the relief of the police officers does not mean they are already being penalized.

“This is not punitive in nature. This is to pave the way for due process and impartial investigation,”” he said.

“We don’t want to condemn them right away. Let them explain their side,” Albayalde said.

Albayalde also disclosed that thepolicemen, caught on video planting evidence and stealing money from their victims, were disarmed and

relieved from their posts.

Albayalde said the policemen were immediately transferred to the PHAU in Camp Crame, Quezon City and would be tried by the police Internal Affairs Service (IAS).

A police source said that the erring policemen belong to the NCRPO’s intelligence division headed by Senior Supt. Matta.

During the public hearing at the Senate last Thursday, Lacson showed footage of a closed circuit television camera showing a policeman planting shabu and stealing money from an office that the a police team later raided. “May mauuna rito, mag- plant ng

shabu and then papasok ‘ yung ( one would get in first, then plant shabu before the entry of the) raiding party. These are police officers. Ninakawan

pa ng (they took) equivalent to P7 million at nag- cough up pa ng additional P2 million,” Lacson said.

He also said members of the anti- crime civic group Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order reported to him that there were 12 cases involving policemen.

One case involved a kidnap for ransom. “One case included an arrest, kidnap and ransom. The uncle arrived at NAIA (Ninoy Aquino International Airport), paid P1 million. But even after the payment, while (victim was still) in custody, the police withdrew from an ATM (automated teller machine),” Lacson said.

There are also several cases in Bulacan and Makati, he added.

“These incidents show there are really excesses being committed by our policemen. If your don’t monitor, you would not know, you can’t act on the situation,” Lacson said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella assured the people that President Duterte supports the police in the war against illegal drugs but he does not tolerate rogue cops.

Abella made the assurance yesterday amid concerns raised by some sectors over the culture of impunity after the controversial case of Korean businessman Jee Ick- joo who was kidnapped and killed by alleged policemen inside PNP headquarters at Camp Crame, Quezon City.

“The President has said he continues to protect their efforts, assuming regularity, assuming regularity. But it’s running on parallel tracks and the President has said that he will deal quite severely with those who are erring,” he said.

”The President has said he will deal severely with those who are found to be engaged in… found to be guilty of. So let us see how it proceeds,” Abella pointed out. 46 cops dismissed

Albayalde claimed that 46 Metro Manila policemen were dismissed, 63 others suspended while four police officers demoted since July last year.

Albayalde warned erring policemen to stop their illegal activities or face dismissal.

“Any police officer involved in any illegal activities will be immediately investigated, be given due process but if warranted, removed from the police service,” Albayalde said.

“The involvement of a few police officers in illegal activities does not bespeak the discipline of our police. We have to give justice to our hardworking police officers,” he added.

Albayalde emphasized that the NCRPO has no tolerance for erring cops or “bad eggs.”

The NCRPO is also reviewing the cases of 896 more policemen facing administrative charges.

Albayalde pointed out that the NCRPO is doing its part in resolving the administrative cases filed against erring cops.

The NCRPO Regional Training and Education Division (RTED) had imposed strict and disciplinary training to new police officers.

Meanwhile, the PNP reported yesterday that 2,538 suspected personalities have been killed in the government’s war on drugs.

PNP spokesperson Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos said these drug suspects were killed in 43,239 police operations under Project Double Barrel Alpha.

Meanwhile, 3,502 other people were murdered allegedly by unidentified vigilantes as of Jan. 2 according to the police. These cases fall under the category of deaths under investigation.

Police have reasoned these suspected drug users and pushers were killed after they allegedly put up a fight which endangered the lives of lawmen. In the report covering July 1 to Jan. 27, some 52,521 drug suspects were arrested by the police.

In the same report, Carlos said 35 policemen were killed and 86 others were wounded in the drug war. The military also suffered casualties with three fatalities and eight injuries.

Also, a total of 1,176,523 persons composed of 79,310 pushers and1,097,213 users voluntarily surrendered to the authorities.

Meanwhile, policemen visited 6,936,157 houses of suspected drug-personalities under the “tokhang” operations, where lawmen knock on the doors of drug suspects and plead that they stop their illegal activities.