PHILIPPINE National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said he will make sure that the six policemen linked by President Rodrigo Duterte to drug smuggling at the Bureau of Customs will cooperate in the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) investigation.
“In compliance with the orders of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, I have directed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management (DPRM) to ensure the availability of six dismissed and active PNP personnel to face investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation in connection with the ongoing probe into the reported drug smuggling at the Bureau of Customs (BOC),” he said in a press conference on Monday, October 29.
On October 10, President Rodrigo Duterte released a matrix of police officers who are allegedly behind drug smuggling activities in the Manila ports.
READ: Police officers in drug matrix relieved
These are dismissed officer Eduardo Acierto, retired Superintendent Ismael Fajardo Jr., Senior Superintendent Leonardo Suan, Superintendent Lorenzo Bacia, Police Inspectors Lito Pirote and Conrado Caragdag and Senior Police Officer 4 Alejandro Gerardo Liwanag who were all members of the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG).
Acierto was earlier ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman to be dismissed from the service for allegedly dipping his hands into the controversial case of missing 1,004 AK-47s which allegedly ended up in the hands of the communist New People’s Army.
Fajardo, on the other hand, was earlier sacked as deputy director general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) for his alleged involvement in the smuggling of the P6.8 billion worth of shabu which slipped past the BOC and was found in a warehouse in Valenzuela.
Suan, Bacia, Pirote, Caragdag and Liwanag are all under the custody of the PNP in Camp Crame. They are not detained, however.
Albayalde said the NBI will conduct further investigation on these policemen.
The PNP Internal Affairs Service will also investigate if there is probable cause to file administrative cases against them.
Albayalde admitted that these men do not have questionable records during their stint at the PNP’s former anti-illegal drugs special operations task force (AIDSOTF).
“Before, they all belong to 1 unit, doon sa AIDSOTF pa tapos naging AIDG (Anti-Illegal Drugs Group) tapos ngayon PDEG (Police Drugs Enforcement Group). Nung PDEG nagkahiwahiwalay na sila. ‘Yung iba naiwan sa PDEG, ‘yung si Acierto nga na-assign sa CSG, si Senior Superintendent Suan naman ay na-assign sa region 8 as DRDO so ang common assignments nila is ‘yung AIDSOTF. Nagsama sama sila doon,” said Albayalde.
“Wala tayo nakuhang information laban sa kanila during that time na nandun sila sa AIDSOTF,” he added.
(We did not get any information against them during their time at AIDSOTF)
The PNP has revised the name of the AIDG to PDEG after its personnel were involved in the killing of Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo which placed the government’s war on drugs in a bad light.
For his part, Suan strongly denied his involvement on illegal drug activities saying he actively took part in the government’s crackdown on illegal drugs even before the time of Duterte and was even recognized for it.
“Lumabas kung ano talaga ang katotohanan,’ yun lang ang hinihiling namin... Unang-una hindi ko ito nakasama sila. Kay Acierto naman po hindi kami magkasama dahil senior po ako sa kanya. Wala akong operation na sinamahan n’ya... Magkakilala kami dahil sa AIDSOTF pero hindi kami magkasama sa grupo. Parang isang unit kami, sila ibang grupo sila,” he said.
(We only ask that the truth will come out. Firstly, we did not work together. In regard with Acierto, I am more senior than him so we did not work together. I did not have any operation that he was with..we know each other through AIDSOTF but we did not belong in the same group. We are like one unit but they were in a different group)
Suan said he also took part in the crafting of the Oplan Tokhang.
He said during his leadership at the Soccsksargen region, 42,000 drug users surrendered to the police.
“Isa pong accomplishment ko dyan ‘yung conviction ni Yu Yuk Lai. Ako po ang humuli nyan 1998. Kaya masama loob ko na ganito ang nangyari sa kaso ng anak nya. Kami po ang humuli dyan noong 1998, na-convict po yan. The arrest of Boratong kami rin po ang humuli nyan. Marami po. Sa career ko po ako po ang pinakamaraming nahuling drug lord na napakulong dyan, convicted po and affirmed by the Supreme Court, narecord po yan,” he said.
(One of my accomplishment is the conviction of Yu Yuk Lai. I was the one who arrested her in 1998. That is why I am a bit hurt that this is what happened to the case against her daughter. We were the ones who arrested her in 1998 and she was convicted. We also arrested Boratong. A lot more. I have the most number of arrested drug lord who were put in jail, convicted and affirmed by the Supreme Court, its on record.) (SunStar Philippines)