5 of 22 ‘ninja cops’ are in Metro Manila, says Eleazar

MANILA, Philippines – Of the 22 “ninja cops” being monitored by the Philippine National Police (PNP), five are assigned in the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), its director Maj. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar revealed Tuesday.

During a meeting with all chiefs of 44 drug enforcement units within the NCRPO, Eleazar said the “ninja cops,” or police officers recycling confiscated illegal drugs, on the PNP watch list include three from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD), and one each from the Manila Police District (MPD) and the Northern Police District (NPD).

Of the five officers, three are commissioned officers, or those with the ranks of Police Lieutenant to General, and two are non-commissioned officers, or those with the ranks of Patrolman or Patrolwoman to Police Executive Master Sergeant, said Eleazar.

He refused to identify the highest rank among the five police officers to not jeopardize the investigation.

READ: War on drugs: PNP closely monitoring 22 ‘ninja cops’

“Ito ‘yung for monitoring (They are being monitored). When we say monitoring, wala pa tayong ebidensya dito pero tinitingnan natin (we don’t have evidence against them yet but we are looking at the possibility they are involved)” he said.

Eleazar said these five officers are not included in the 16 police officers being linked to the so-called “drug queen,” a politician based in Sampaloc, Manila who is said to be purchasing seized drugs from “narco-cops.” Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Director General Aaron Aquino earlier revealed this drug queen had already earned more than P1 billion in the drug trade.

During the meeting, Eleazar reiterated to the top anti-drug cops of the NCRPO that he will enforce the one-strike policy should police officers under their units engage in illegal drug activities.

Under the policy, the chief of the drug enforcement unit will be immediately relieved from post if one of his subordinates is caught selling or using illegal drugs. The station commander will also be removed from his post.

The same policy likewise applies to the district level of the NCRPO, where the head of the district drug enforcement unit and the district director will be relieved.

“Nasa inyo ang tiwala, kaya kung kayo, hindi man lahat masusupervise ng commander niyo itong mga bata niyo, pero kung may pumalpak doon, tigok kayo, tigok ang commander niyo (The trust is set on you, that’s why if you will fall short in supervising your men, you will be relieved along with your commanders),” he said.

“The least is relief for command responsibility without prejudice to investigation and kapag merong basis na nagpabaya kayo, the worse is involve kayo, ay talagang tigok din kayo (and if there is basis that you have neglected your duty, or worse, if you are involved, you will definitely be relieved),” he added.

The NCRPO, composed of over 20,000 ground officers, have 1,200 members in all 44 drug enforcement units, which is composed of the Regional Drug Enforcement Unit, five District Drug Enforcement Units, and 38 Station Drug Enforcement Units. /je