‘Ninja cop’ probe: No-show police officer ordered arrested

MANILA, Philippines – A police officer tagged in the mishandling of evidence during a drug sting in Mexico, Pampanga, in November 2013 has been cited in contempt at the Senate  and ordered arrested for his non-attendance at the probe on the so-called “ninja cops.”

During the resumption of the probe on police officers allegedly involved in the recycling of confiscated illegal drugs on Wednesday, Senator Panfilo Lacson moved to cite in contempt Senior Police Officer 1 Ronald Bayos Santos.

There was no objection to Lacson’s  motion.

Senator Richard Gordon, chairman of Senate Justice and Human rights Committee that is conducting the probe, said that Santos has not been attending previous Senate inquiries and he has already been subpoenaed.

“We’ve been looking for him and we requested that he be subpoenaed already. Ronald Santos is very important to this case and we’ve been trying to get him,” Gordon said during the hearing.

“He is in contempt and we hereby order his arrest so that he can be brought here in person,” he added.

In 2014, 13 Pampanga police officers, including Santos, were found guilty of grave misconduct for failing to account for all confiscated evidence in a drug buy-bust operation in November 29, 2013.

The police officers were initially ordered dismissed but were only demoted by one rank after filing a motion for reconsideration in March 2016.  /gsg