MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang said Monday it is supporting the proposal to conduct a lifestyle check on members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) amid the controversy involving the recycling of seized illegal drugs, otherwise known as “ninja cops.”
“That’s a really good idea. There should be a lifestyle check internally among the PNP,” presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.
The PNP Internal Affairs Service should conduct the investigation, Panelo added.
Earlier, Senator Richard Gordon, who leads the Senate probe on the recycling of seized illegal drugs, said PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde and the 13 alleged “ninja cops” in Pampanga must undergo lifestyle check to determine whether they had benefited from the controversial 2013 drug sting against an alleged Chinese drug lord.
Albayalde and his former subordinates were accused of acquiring new sports utility vehicles (SUVs) following the 2013 operation against a certain Johnson Lee, wherein the cops allegedly seized some 200 kilograms of shabu but only declared 36 kilograms as evidence.
The former Pampanga cops were also allegedly paid to make it appear that the Chinese drug lord had escaped.
Albayalde, meanwhile, is also accused of supposedly influencing the investigation against the 13 Pampanga policemen.
But despite the controversy, President Rodrigo Duterte said Albayalde, like common criminals, enjoyed the presumption of innocence until proven guilty.
The President has also ordered the Department of the Interior and Local Government to conduct an investigation on the matter. /kga
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