President Marcos troops the line with Major General Eric Noble, director of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), during the commencement exercises for PNPA Class of 2023 at Camp Castañeda, Silang, Cavite. (File photo from MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)
MANILA, Philippines — The approval of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. of the resignations filed by 18 police officials allegedly involved in illegal drug trade is a big accomplishment.
Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla made this statement on Wednesday.
He said Marcos’ move is a good first step towards maintaining people’s trust towards Philippine National Police (PNP).
“This will serve as a lesson to our police officers — that there is no place for abuse of power and neglect of duty in the service,” the lawmaker noted.
Meanwhile, Senators Joel Villanueva, Francis Escudero and Koko Pimentel want the resigned police officers to be prosecuted if there are pieces of evidence against them.
“Not enough and am sure they will do the right thing to charge these police officers,” Villanueva said.
“The full force of the law should be applied to them to serve as warning to others. Otherwise, we will continue to hear and see this over and over again,” he asked the executive branch.
“If, indeed, they have drug links, they should be charged both administratively and criminally. It’s the next logical step,” Escudero observed.
“Follow the evidence,” Pimentel suggested.
“If good enough for criminal conviction, then, they should file the cases. Since dismissed na, then, that is already the end of an admin case,” he recommended to law enforcers and government prosecutors.
Meanwhile, Surigao del Norte 2nd district representative Robert Ace Barbers also lauded the way the President handled the issue.
“Make no mistake about it. The President’s acceptance of the resignations of the 18 senior police officers allegedly involved in illegal drug activities is a welcome move and proves the seriousness of his resolve to curb the drug menace,” he said.
“This is a big win in our war on drugs,” he added.
During the President’s State of the Nation Address, he had expressed his desire to remove the police officials from service.
He had said he would accept the resignations of “unscrupulous law enforcers and others involved in the highly nefarious drug trade.”
Last January 4, Deparment of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. had called on all full colonels and generals of PNP to submit their courtesy resignations.
The statement came amid reports that some high-ranking officials were engaging in drug trade.
In October 2022, PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) operative Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo was arrested in an anti-drug operation.
At least 990 kilograms of shabu were seized from a lending facility in Manila that Mayo owned.
Then, Abalos revealed there was a bid to cover up the arrest of Mayo.
House committee on dangerous drugs chaired by Barbers investigated the matter in the early part of 2023.
During the hearings, glaring inconsistencies and irregularities in the operation against Mayo were exposed.
Lawmakers saw a possible conspiracy behind his alleged criminal activities.
A supposed attempt to recycle the illegal drugs reportedly seized from Mayo was bared.
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