MANILA, Philippines — A House of Representatives panel has recommended the filing of criminal complaints against dismissed police Mst. Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo and former police anti-drug unit head Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo over the controversial buy-bust operation in Tondo, Manila late last year.
In the report of the House committee on dangerous drugs that was approved on Wednesday, the panel said that the practice of “giving substantial portions of confiscated drugs as a reward” to assets and informants whose information leads to significant operations has been rampant.
The committee came to this conclusion after probing the incident where Mayo was caught with 990 kilograms of shabu worth P6.7 billion at a lending site in Tondo which the officer owns.
During the investigation, lawmakers questioned supposed attempts to cover up the incident and recycle the illegal drugs.
To address this, the panel, headed by Surigao del Norte 2nd District Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, recommended strengthening Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 and filing charges against Mayo, Domingo, and other police officers:
- Mayo (possession of more than 990 kilograms of shabu)
- Members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Drug Enforcement Unit – Special Operations Unit 4-A (DEG-SOU4A) led by police Lt. Jonathan Sosongco (planting of evidence, obstruction of justice)
- Police S/Mst. Sgt. Jerrywin Rebosora, Mst. Sgt. Lorenzo Catarata and other officers (misappropriation of seized or confiscated dangerous drugs, for pilferage and unlawful taking of 42 kilograms of shabu)
- Domingo, Col. Julian Olonan, Lt. Col. Arnulfo Ibañez, and Maj. Michael Angelo Salmingo (obstruction of justice)
- Domingo, Col. Julian Olonan, Lt. Col. Arnulfo Ibañez and Maj. Michael Angelo Salmingo (graft, for persuading, inducing, or influencing other public officers or allowing themselves to be persuaded or influenced to release Mayo)
- Capt. Randolph Piñon, Pat. Mario Atchuela Jr., and other PNP DEG officers who participated in the staged ‘hot pursuit operation’ (perjury)
Administrative charges were also recommended against Sosongco and PNP DEG-SOU4A personnel involved in the operation; Rebosora, Catarata; Domingo, Olonan, Ibañez, Salmingo; and Piñon, Atchuela, and officers involved in the staged hot pursuit operations.
Last October 9, 2022, PNP reported that anti-narcotics operatives seized P6.7 billion worth of shabu from Ney Saligumba Atadero, who supposedly had an accomplice in Mayo, during a hot pursuit operation conducted a day before. However, no less than Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. said that there was an attempt to cover up Mayo’s arrest.
Congressional investigations which started last April 26 however showed that a different police officer appears to have been the one who arrested Mayo, and not the officers first reported to have done so — and that it was a buy-bust operation, not a hot pursuit.
During one of the hearings, Barbers asked the subordinates of Capt. Jonathan Sosongco if they were behind the filing of cases against Mayo. One of Sosongco’s team members said that they filed complaints only against Mayo’s accomplice Atadero because a different cop was behind Mayo’s arrest.
It was then established that Mayo really was caught during a buy-bust operation around noon of October 8, while a follow-up operation — under the premise of getting a bigger catch — was launched. However, the said operation was led by Mayo, who was able to roam around freely without handcuffs even after his arrest.
Olonan, on the other hand, maintained before the committee that Mayo was arrested in a hot pursuit operation and not a buy-bust, leading Barbers and Antipolo 2nd District Rep. Romeo Acop to question this as there were reports that Mayo was already under police custody as early as 1:00 p.m.
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