Año: PNP to change public perception amid ’ninja cops ’ stigma

MANILA, Philippines —The Philippine National Police (PNP) is bent on changing the public’s perception of police officers amid the stigma of  “ninja cops,” Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Wednesday.

“As far as the PNP is concerned, we will make sure na mabago yung perception ng public [to change public perception] by actions and by deeds,” he told reporters when asked about the recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey which showed that 78 percent of Filipinos believe that some police officers are “ninja cops” or engaged in drug recycling.

Año also noted that the survey result is only the “aftermath” of the Senate investigation into the controversial 2013 Pampanga drug sting, saying the police force is already conducting an internal cleansing campaign to remove rogue police officers from its organization.

“If you will recall it happened 2013 so that’s about five years or six years ago but in our campaign to rid of our scalawags, rest assured lahat ng ninja cops diyan we will remove them and persecute them.

The PNP also continues to conduct surveillance on its watchlist for policemen who are allegedly involved in drug recycling, Año said.

“Meron kami sa listahan hindi lang namin pwede i-reveal, [We have a list for these police officers who are suspected ninja cops but we cannot disclose their names.],” he said.

PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said that while they cannot stop the public from believing negative issues hounding police officers, the PNP will not be tolerating rogue police officers.

“Tinitiyak natin sa publiko na ganitong gawain ay hindi natin kinokonsinte upang tanggalin na ang ganitong illegal na gawain at maibalik ang tiwala ng mamamayan sa PNP. [We assure the public that these illegal acts will not be tolerated to remove errant policemen in PNP and to regain the public’s trust from PNP.],” Banac said in another interview with reporters.

Albayalde remains innocent while DOJ probe ongoing

Of the 50 percent Filipinos in the survey who said former PNP chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde is a protector of ninja cops, Banac said Albayalde remains innocent as the investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is still ongoing.

“May kasong ikinakaharap sa Department of Justice lahat ng akusado. Hayaan natin na umusad yung proseso ng kaso at maipagtanggol ni Albayalde ang sarili sa kanyang akusasyon so hangga’t walang pinal na desisyon ang korte ay mananatiling inosente ang tao,” Banac said.

[There is an ongoing case from the DOJ for all the accused. Let us let the case undertake due process and let Albayalde to defend himself on the accusation so unless the court has no final decision, the accused remains innocent.]

Echoing Banac, Año said the public perception of Albayalde’s image may still change depending on the results of the DOJ’s investigation.

To recall, Albayalde was forced to step down after being implicated in the Senate probe into the 2013 Pampanga drug sting where 13 police officers allegedly recycled their seized drug evidence. Albayalde was the Pampanga police chief when the 2013 drug bust took place in Mexico, Pampanga.

Edited by MUF