General in drugs watchlist holds office in Camp Crame

MANILA, Philippines — So where is the highest-ranking police officer in the drugs watchlist holding office? At the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) — in Camp Crame itself.

The officer with the rank of brigadier general — a one-star rank in the PNP — who is among the 357 cops in the drugs watchlist, is assigned at Camp Crame in Quezon City, a source privy to the list told INQUIRER.net on Wednesday.

According to the source, who requested anonymity, the brigadier general is among those relieved of their posts as they face investigation for allegedly dipping their hands in illegal drugs, which has been the center of operations of the police force under President Rodrigo Duterte.

All of the relieved officers were transferred to the Office of the Chief PNP pending resolution of the investigation.

Speaking before reporters on Monday, PNP chief Gen. Archie Gamboa revealed that a brigadier general is among the names included in the drugs watchlist of no less than the President.

He said the PNP was given a month to validate if the police officers had indeed been in cahoots with drug traders.

They were also offered optional retirement “if they don’t want to embarrass themselves” and if they know they were guilty.

READ: 357 cops, including general, probed for illegal drug involvement

But the source also said that there were some loopholes in the list, noting that some of the 357 police officers were even promoted to higher ranks and positions in recent years despite their alleged crooked activities.

The source said the fact that these cops were promoted shows “there was really a problem” in the list.

The list also surprisingly includes Lt. Col. Jovie Espenido, who became controversial for the deaths of then-Mayor Rolando Espinosa of Albuera, Leyte, during the service of search warrants in his detention cell in 2016, and then-Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog of Ozamiz City in a drug raid in 2017.

Espenido was the chief of police in these areas when these local chief executives, who had been tagged as “narco-politicians,” were killed.

READ: ‘Espenido included in drugs watchlist’

/atm