INTERIOR and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. has named 10 police officials, including a former three-star general, who were allegedly involved in a “massive attempt” to cover up a drug raid in October 2022.
The drug raid resulted in the arrest of a police officer and the recovery of P6.7 billion worth of methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu).
In a press conference on Monday, April 10, 2023, Abalos urged the following police officers to file their leave of absences pending investigation or else he will order their suspension:
* P olice Brigadier General Narciso Domingo, director of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG)
* Police Colonel Julian Olonan, chief of PDEG Special Operations Unit (SOU) Region 4A
* Police Captain (PCapt) Jonathan Sosongco, head of the PDEG SOU 4A arrest team
* Police Lieutenant Colonel (PLtCol) Arnulfo Ibañez, officer-in-charge of PDEG SOU National Capital Region (NCR)
* Police Major Michael Angelo Salmingo, deputy of PDEG SOU NCR
* PLtCol Glenn Gonzales of Quezon City Police District
* Police Lieutenant Ashrap Amerol, intelligence officer of PDEG Intelligence and Foreign Liaison Division
* PLtCol Harry Lorenzo, Manila PD Moriones Station Commander
* PCapt Randolph Piñon, chief of PDEG SOU 4A Intelligence Section
Abalos also implicated retired Police Lieutenant General Benjamin Santos Jr., who was then deputy chief PNP for Operations.
“I am giving them within this week to file their leave of absence pending investigation. Kung hindi magli-leave, sususpindehin natin sila (If they will not file a leave, we will suspend them),” he said.
Before he bowed down from police service in March, Santos was relieved from his post in February and was placed under the Office of the Chief Philippine National Police (PNP) amid the ongoing investigation against full-fledged police colonels and generals involved in illegal drugs.
In January, Abalos urged all full-fledged police colonels and generals to submit their courtesy resignation, a move that stemmed from the arrest of Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo Jr. during a drug operation in Manila in October 2022.
Mayo was dismissed from the service in March.
Abalos presented a closed circuit television (CCTV) footage taken in front of Wealth and Personal Development (WPD) Lending Inc. in Tondo, Manila that showed the actual series of events in relation to the confiscation of the 990 kilograms of shabu worth P6.7 billion.
In the footage, it was seen that Mayo, the supposed owner of the WPD lending company, was arrested on the afternoon of October 8, 2022 and not on October 9 as stated in the PDEG report.
All the 10 police officers and officials were also seen in the area before Mayo was released on the evening of October 8.
Also as part of cover-up, according to the DILG, the PDEG released a spot report signed by Domingo and Ibañez where Mayo was named as an arresting officer in a different anti-drug operation on the evening of October 8.
He was the one recommended to receive awards regarding the operation.
Abalos said police operatives also stole 42 kilograms of shabu from the 990 total drug haul.
Several police officers brought out luggage bags from the WPD office believed to be containing illegal drugs and placed the bags inside a car.
The Napolcom said it was supposed to serve as a “reward” to the assets who played a vital role in the operation.
The 42 kilograms of shabu were later surrendered and recovered on October 15, 2022 in a car that was abandoned and parked along Boni Serrano Ave. in San Juan City near Camp Crame.
This incident prompted the PNP to create a Special Investigation Task Force known as SITG 990.
Abalos said he did not initially believe that only Mayo was involved in the incident.
With the slow progress of the probe, Abalos requested Azurin in a letter dated February 20, 2023 to provide updates on the case.
On March 23, 2023, during the Napolcom En Banc Meeting, Major General Eliseo Cruz, head of SITG 990, admitted that they were constituted to investigate only the matter of the 42 kilos of shabu that was pilfered and returned by members of the PNP PDEG, leaving the main matter of the 990 kilograms of shabu unexplained and unaccounted.
Abalos said the PNP leadership did not provide any conclusive information on the matter.
“Disappointed with the very slow progress of the investigation, I, in the exercise of my authority as ex-officio chairperson of the Napolcom, in a letter addressed to Commissioner Alberto A Bernardo, vice chairperson and executive officer, Napolcom dated March 27, 2023, authorized the conduct of fact-finding inquiry on the involvement of Sgt Mayo in the seized 990 kilos of shabu and the actions taken by SITG 990,” he said.
He said the fact-finding board has taken testimonies of several personalities and based on this and other pieces of evidence under the possession of the Board, it shows that there is indeed a massive attempt to cover up the arrest of Mayo.
To recall, on October 10, after the Monday flag-raising ceremony, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief General Rodolfo Azurin presented to reporters the result of a series of police operations in Manila.
Based on the report of PDEG, he said Ney Saligumba Atadero was arrested during a buy-bust operation in Tondo, Manila. Seized from Atadero were 990 kilograms of shabu valued at P6.7 billion.
Atadero, based on the CCTV footage presented by Abalos, was a caretaker of the WPD.
The second sting was a hot pursuit operation before dawn of Sunday, October 9, against Mayo, then a member of PDEG.
The report indicated that Mayo was arrested in a buy-bust operation in Quezon bridge in Quiapo, Manila at 2:30 a.m. of October 9.
At least two kilos of shabu worth P13.6 million were recovered from Mayo.
The report was signed by Domingo.
On March 26, the PNP and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency destroyed 990 kilos of shabu with an estimated street value of P6.7 billion in Trece Martires City, Cavite. (SunStar Philippines)