New NCRPO chief targets ‘Abakada’ cops, orders mandatory drug test for personnel

CHIEF Supt. Oscar Albayalde vowed on Monday to get rid of “Abakada” policemen after his formal installation as National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director.

The campaign to clean up the police ranks is as simple as the Filipino alphabet as Abakada stands for Abusado, Bastos, Kotongero and Duwag (Abusive, Rude, Extortionist and Coward), Albayalde said.

At the same time, he echoed the marching orders of President Duterte and Philippine National Police  chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa to suppress crime, fight illegal drugs and weed out  scalawags from the police force.

“If we are to lead by example and to possess the moral ascendancy to wage war against illegal drugs, we must be able to honestly declare that we are a drug-free PNP,” Albayalde said as he ordered mandatory drug tests for NCRPO personnel.

Albayalde, a “mistah” or classmate of Dela Rosa from the Philippine Military Academy Sinagtala Class of 1986, said the police would carry out Oplan Double Barrel to hit both high-value target personalities and street-level drug operations.

In a media interview after the turnover ceremony, Albayalde said going after high-value targets would take time as it would entail intelligence operations. The immediate action, he added, was to clear barangays of drug users and pushers.

He said that based on Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency records, 92 percent of Metro barangays were affected by the drug menace.

ALBAYALDE

To fulfill the campaign promise of President Duterte to suppress crime in six months, Albayalde said station commanders would have one month to prove their worth while district directors would be given three months.

Before his appointment as NCRPO director, Albayalde was executive officer of the PNP directorate for plans.

In 2014, he was relieved as Pampanga police chief after members of the provincial anti-illegal drugs unit were charged with extorting money from drug suspects and recycling the seized illegal drugs.

Asked about it on Monday, Albayalde told reporters: “I wasn’t aware of that [activity]. As provincial director, I have said that if they can prove I was involved, I will resign from the service.”