Albayalde: Let the court decide the fate of 13 ‘ninja cops’

MANILA, Philippines — Gen. Oscar Albayalde, chief of the Philippine National Police, says it’s up to the court now to determine the fate of the 13 so-called ninja cops accused of recycling part of the crystal meth stash seized in a 2013 anti-drug operation in Mexico, Pampanga.

The 13 police officers were charged with grave misconduct in 2014.

“Let the court decide now. We don’t want to preempt it,” Albayalde, speaking partly in Filpino, said in an interview on Saturday at AM radio station DZMM.

That was Albayalde’s reply when asked he trusted the 13 officers, who were then his subordinates at the time of the drug sting, when he was still chief of the Pampanga Provincial Police Office.

The actual operation was headed by Maj. Rodney Raymundo Louie Baloyo, who was cited for contempt last Thursday, Oct. 3, at a Senate hearing on the issue for being “evasive.” He was ordered detained at the New Bilibid Prison.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) vowed that it would come up with a resolution in the 2014 grave misconduct case against Baloyo and 12 other law enforcers.

READ: DOJ to come up with resolution on case vs 13 Pampanga cops in a month

Albayalde said he could be a witness in the case, noting that he could also be summoned by the DOJ .

The PNP chief admitted, however, that there could be some “discrepancies” in the accounts of what happened during 2013 anti-drug operations.

“Definitely, there were discrepancies because there were three policemen that confessed. There were discrepancies. That is clear,” he said.

/atm