PNP Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City. (Photo from the PNP Facebook page)
MANILA, Philippines — The Committee of Five tasked with purging the Philippine National Police (PNP) of officials linked to illegal drugs will have members coming different sectors, Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said on Tuesday.
“They’re from different sectors. That’s all I could say right now,” Abalos said, speaking in a mix of Filipino and English, in an ambush interivew at Camp Bagong Diwa, headquarters of the National Capital Region Police Office, in Taguig.
So far, only Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a police general who retired from service in 2016, has been identified as a member of the committee created to review the records of high-ranking PNP officials with links to the illegal drug trade.
Abalos noted that the committee would not be entirely composed of retired police officials.
A total of 953 PNP generals and colonels are expected to submit their courtesy resignation.
Abalos made the call for their resignation in an effort to weed out those with links to drug syndicates.