PNP says it is ready to arrest Acierto if court will release warrant

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) is ready to arrest dismissed police Colonel Eduardo Acierto if the court will release the warrant.

“Pag meron pong nilabas na warrant of arrest ang ating local courts, nakahanda po ang PNP na isagawa at i-implement kung sino man. Wala namang exempted sa ganito. Nakahanda po ang PNP na tumugon sa mandato ng korte,” PNP spokesperson Colonel Bernard Banac said in a press conference at Camp Crame on Thursday (April 4).

(If the local courts will release a warrant of arrest, the PNP is ready to implement it to anyone. No one is exempted. The PNP is ready to respond to the order of the court.)

Speaking in an interview with DZBB on Sunday (March 31), Senator Richard Gordon said that the PNP should arrest Acierto, who was accused of seeking the help of former Customs intelligence officer Jimmy Guban in facilitating the shipment of the supposedly missing P11 billion worth of “shabu” (crystal meth).

“Please have him arrested, and have him face the charges against him before the regular courts,” Gordon reportedly said in the interview.

Acierto went into hiding in October 2018 since being tagged in the alleged drug smuggling case, but surfaced in an interview with select reporters on March 24 and linked to the illegal drug trade former presidential economic adviser Michael Yang and another Chinese national identified as Allan Lim.

The PNP has cleared Yang of involvement in drugs but added that it is gathering intelligence on his alleged drug links.  /muf

READ: Ex-cop linked to P11-B ‘shabu’ smuggling fears for life