Senate to name ‘ninja cops’ Oct. 1

The Senate will disclose next week the police officers identified in an earlier executive session as “ninja cops,” or involved in selling or “recycling” seized drugs.

Sen. Richard Gordon said the 14 police officers would be identified in the Oct. 1 joint hearing of the Senate justice and blue ribbon committees, regardless of whether President Duterte names them ahead.

“We will report to the public the people who were named,” Gordon told reporters, adding that the officers would also be invited to the hearing.

Baguio Mayor and former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief Benjamin Magalong named the police officers in an executive session on Sept. 19 after disclosing an “agaw bato” scheme through which rogue law enforcers sell seized narcotics to convicted drug lords who continue their trade inside the New Bilibid Prison.

 ‘Not a syndicate’

Gordon said Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde could also be invited to next Tuesday’s hearing.

On Wednesday night, Albayalde furnished President Duterte the police list of alleged ninja cops.

“What we are calling ninja cops was a syndicate way back even before President Duterte’s time…. What we are seeing now are scalawags in uniform (who) are working on their own,” Albayalde told reporters at Thursday’s turnover of motorcycles from the Korean government in Camp Crame.

“This is not a syndicate anymore… If one is identified, we conduct surveillance and case buildup among these people. That’s why we have the PNP-IMEG (Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group) to address the problem and weed out scalawags from our ranks,” the PNP chief added.

Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Thursday said that the syndicate was dismantled during the term of now Sen. Ronald dela Rosa as PNP chief, though it remains “a serious problem.”

Panelo, however, stressed that despite the presence of scalawag cops in the PNP, the government is succeeding in its war on illegal drugs.

‘Succeeding’

“We are succeeding, of course, in the war on drugs. The fact alone that can you imagine 124 policeman killed in entrapment operations, you are successful,” Panelo said, adding that the government had dismantled at least  P132 billion worth of illegal drugs and equipment.

Panelo said the President will spare no one in his campaign to rid the police of scalawags involved in illegal drugs, not even police chief Albayalde.

“To the President, there is no family, friends nor party mates. If you’re involved, you are fired… Whoever is involved, the President will remove him. Not just remove him, there will be criminal prosecution,” the Palace official said.

However, Panelo said Albayalde still enjoyed the “full trust and confidence” of the President for now.

The Palace official said he was uncertain if the President had received the transcript of the executive session, but gave assurances that Mr. Duterte “will read it, study it and do something about it.”

Earlier, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency director general Aaron Aquino said 53 ninja cops were still active in the illegal activity, and that the President was already aware of the list.