THE Philippine National Police (PNP) clarified on Monday, August 20, that there is no order to kill "ninja cops" and that police officers are not entitled to receive the P5-million bounty on the head of a dead "ninja cop."
PNP chief Oscar Albayalde said the reward will go to the person who provided information that led to the neutralization of a "ninja cop," or police officers who protect drug personalities or recycle recovered illegal drugs for their own business.
“Kapag ang isang tao naki-isa sa pulis basically ang reward goes to the person that led to the positive neutralization arrest or napatay yan in a police operation basta nag-positive (ang result ng operation) civilian usually it’s the asset (ang nakakakuha ng bounty) hindi ‘yung pulis hindi kung sino nag-operate it is the person that give the info ‘yun ang binibigyan jan,” PNP chief Oscar Albayalde said.
(The reward goes to the person who provided the information that led to the neutralization of a ninja cop. Usually a civilian or police asset provides that information. The police officers involved in the operation do no get the reward.)
He made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte announced that he was increasing the bounty on the head of a “ninja cop” to P5 million from P3 million.
Albayalde said over 1,700 police personnel who were allegedly involved in various illegal activities are included in their counter-intelligence watchlist.
He allayed fears about policemen turning into “bounty hunters.” He also said there has been no order to immediately kill erring officers.
“Hindi naman kailangan patayin, not in all operations hindi naman kailangan. Depende naman kung ano talagang danger ang nasa harapan ng ating kapulisan habang nag-ooperate yung iba naman talagang nag-susurender sila binibigyan naman natin sila ng pag-asa. Marami din naman nag-surrender at marami din na under deliberation at adjudication ng DI (Directorate for Intelligence) nakikita natin na nagbabago na,” said Albayalde.
(There is no need to kill them, not in all operations. It depends on the situation. A lot of these officers have surrendered and their cases are under deliberation and adjudication by the Directorate for Intelligence.)
Albayalde said Duterte’s move may have been due to frustration that despite the government’s efforts to improve the work conditions of law enforcers, there are still some who refused to stop their illegal activities.
“Makita mo naman even the members of his Cabinet ayaw niya ng corruption, krimen, illegal drugs pero meron pa rin nai-involve within our ranks even during the time of our chief Bato kaya siya na-frustrate despite his effort ‘yung kagustuhan niya na malinis ang aming hanay ay meron pa rin ganyang nai-involve sa aming organization probably some sort of merong frustration or disappointment pa para mawala na totally ang problema na ito,” he said.
At least 200 police personnel have been arrested by the PNP-Counter-Intelligence Task Force since 2017.
Four police officers who resisted arrest were killed in drug busts. (SunStar Philippines)