PNP exec abducted in Zambo siege to lead task force vs rogue cops

PSSupt Jose Chiquito “JC” Malayo JULIE S. ALIPALA / INQUIRER MINDANAO FILE PHOTO

The former director of the Zamboanga police instrumental in the release of over 100 hostages of the Moro National Liberal Front (MNLF) during the rebel group’s 2013 siege there will head the task force that will go after rogue cops as the Philippine National Police (PNP) intensifies its internal cleansing efforts within its ranks.

Senior Supt. Jose Chiquito Malayo has been tapped to lead the Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF), PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said on Tuesday.

The PNP had suspended its bloody war on drugs, which has claimed the lives of 2,555 drug suspects in police operations, so it could prioritize the purging of scalawags in the police after some of its men allegedly killed South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo inside Camp Crame last October.

MNLF rebels abducted Malayo, former Zamboanga City police director, while he was negotiating for the release of civilian hostages, whom the rebels had used as human shields when they laid siege in the city in September 2013.

READ: MNLF rebels in swamp surrender to chief cop

Dela Rosa said while Malayo was in the hands of armed followers of MNLF commander Nur Misuari, he was able to convince some rebels to surrender to the authorities.

Malayo, previously assigned as the deputy director of the PNP’s Firearms and Explosives Office, will now lead the CITF, which will be composed of at least 100 personnel to look into the background of cops suspected of engaging in illegal activities.

The CITF will hold office at the headquarters of the newly-dissolved PNP’s Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG) in Camp Crame. Jee was killed by a group of AIDG cops few steps outside the AIDG office.

READ: PNP starts war on bad cops

Asked to describe the function of CITF, Dela Rosa said the task force will receive and act on reports from local police stations nationwide about cops involved in corrupt and illegal activities

He said the would-be members of the CITF will undergo a “thorough vetting process” so bad cops will not be able to penetrate their ranks.

“That’s a very sensitive unit. Dapat mala-santo mga tao na nandyan para hindi talaga malagyan ng duda ‘yung kanilang ginagawa (The personnel here must be saintly so that their actions won’t be doubted),” Dela Rosa said. CDG/rga