Lacson to Albayalde: Reopen ‘ninja cops’ case, prove you’re not protecting

MANILA, Philippines — Reinvestigate the case of the alleged “ninja cops” quickly to prove you’re not their protector.

This was the advice given by Sen. Panfilo Lacson to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde who is being accused of intervening in the case of 13 Pampanga police officers led by Maj. Rodney Baloyo in relation to an alleged drug recycling incident in 2013. Lacson also admitted that he doubted Albayalde.

“Sa totoo lang… ako mismo nagkaroon ng konting pagdududa sa kanya although iba ‘yung duda, iba ‘yung ebidensya,” Lacson said in an interview over radio dzMM, Friday. “Pero sa ngayon hindi natin pwedeng akusahan na sya’y sangkot o nagtakip dito.”

[Actually, I also doubted Albayalde, although doubting is different from having evidence. As of now, we cannot accuse him of involvement or a covering-up for his men.]

“At ang pinakamagandang pruweba para maipakita nya na talagang hindi nya pino-protektaha sila Baloyo… bago sya magretiro, madaliin nya ‘yung pag-review ng kaso, pag-reinvestigate at bigyan nya ng karampatang parusa na katulad sa binigay na parusa sa original na decision na dismissal at tsaka may criminal case,” the senator, a former PNP chief, added.

[And the best proof to show that he is not protecting Baloyo’s group is to expedite the reinvestigation of their cases before he retires, and ensure that the proper penalties are imposed similar to what was stated in the original decision which is dismissal from the service and the filing of criminal cases.]

Albayalde, who denied protecting the involved police officers, had vowed to refile the criminal and administrative cases against for allegedly selling drugs seized during the bust and for accepting bribes. Instead of dismissal as stated in the original order, the involved police officers were merely given rank demotioms. The Senate is now investigating this controversy.

READ: PNP ready to sue 13 Pampanga ‘ninja cops’ after DOJ review

In previous Senate hearings, former PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group chief and now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong had accused Albayalde of intervening in the case of the 13 invloved police officers who were under his command when he was then chief of the Pampanga Police Provincial Office.

On Thursday, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino finally admitted that Albayalde had asked him not to implement the dismissal order against 13 Pampanga policemen.  /muf

READ: Aquino retracts: Albayalde asked me not to implement dismissal order vs Pampanga cops