tlulagu
Business Insight
Monday, October L4, 2}1rg
Ninia cops a good argument
vs death penalty
BY WEI{DELI VIGIUA
"NINJA cops" will Iikely exploit
the death penalty sanction if
Congress revives the law, Buhay
party-list Rep. Lito Atienza saii
yesterday as he rallied against the
return of tie capital punishment
in the country's statutes.
Atienza said recent revelations
about the continued criminal activi-
'ties of ninja cops is a good argu-
ment against proposals to revive the
death penalty because unscrupulous
policemen ca-tr easily plarlt evidence
'-to ftame up innocent individuals.
"These ninja cops ate bound to
use the hazard of death sentences
to threaten their victims of extor-
tion, if
and when Congress brings
back capiral punishment," said
Atienza. a staunch opponenr of
death penalty advocates.
Aienza said ordinary citizens involved in the alleged rtcyclfig'of
will become vulllerable to poten- ' illegal &ugs by some police officials
tial dtug evidence-planting and
extoltro4.
"Every citizen is vuloerable to
potential drug evidence-planring
and extottion by rhese po[ce scala-
wags who are illegally hoarding
seized drugs, and whos.
"pp*.ni
sole motivation is to use their posi-
tions of authority to make m-oney
for themselves." he said.
PNP Chief Gen" Oscar Albayalde
has been the subiect of rhe inquLv
by dre Senare Blue Ribbon commii-
- tee into a questionable
drug bust
operation caried out six years ago
Sen. fuchard Gordon last wiek
said the Senate blue ribbon and
justice committees have collated
documentary and testimooial
evidence ro back allegations link-
ing Albayalde to "agaw-bato" op-
eratrons of rogue cops previously
assigned to Pampanga during the
time that he was the Pampansa
police provincia.l ofFce diteitoi
' P^q"-g,
- solon
Gordon eatLiet claimed that for-
mer Cenral Luzon regional police
chief Gen. Rudy Lacadrn executed
a sworn statemeflt regarding the
allegations he huded during the
lfednesday hearing
Anti-Crime and Terrorism Com-
munity lovolvement and Support
(ACT-CIS) party-J.ist Rep. Eric Yap
said both the PNP and the Senate
should continue with its investiga-
tion to dig deeper into the illegal
activities of police scalawags.
'lffe hope that the investigations
will continue and fot it out an end
to the many issues that were un-
eatthed, sarting from the GCTA
(Good Conduct Time Allowance)
mess in thb Bureau of Corections
(BuCot)," he said.
Yap is hoping that the investiga-
tions will lead to the filing of appro-
priate charges against all the of6cials
and their subordinates.
He said the GCTA issue fizzled
out with the r€signation of former
BuCot chief Nicanot Faldon "and
I'm hoping that *re same thing will
not happen when Gen. Albayalde
vacates his post."
"People should be held account-
able for the ninja cops contro-
r.ersy," said the neophyte lawmaker
who chaim the House committee
on games and amusement.
Atienza noted that the Dan,
getous Drugs Act mandates that
vrithin 24 hous upon seizure, all
illegal drugs have to be delivered to
the Philippine Drug Enforcemenr
Agencyt pDEA) forensic labora-
tory for qualitative and quantitative
exar nauon.
The PDEA! forensic laboratory
is then required to produce wi*rin
24 to 48 hours a svzorn cetification
of examination results under oadr.
After the filing of criminal
charges in coutt, tlle judge, within
72 hours, is then expected to con-
duct an ocular inspection of the
confiscated drugs.
Witlin 24 hours after the inspec
tion, the courg through the PDEA,
is then expected to cause t}le de-
sttuction of the seized drugs, also
in the presence of a representative
from the media, the DOJ and arl
elected official.
A sworn certihcation of the
dtugs destroyed, along with a
preserved representative sample
- duly weighed and recorded - is
then submitted to the court and
kept by PDEA for use as evidence.
Intedor Secretary Eduardo A-do
said he will submit to President
Duterte by Friday this week his rec-
ommendation fot the nert PNP chie€
Afro said his list may include the
three police generals drat Sen. Chris-
topher 'tsong ' Go had previously
mentioned will be iocluded in t}le
short list for dre next police chie(
The thtee that were mentioned
by Go were Maj. Gen. Guillermo
Eleazar and Lt, Gens. Archie Gam-
boa and Camilo Cascolan,
"\X/ala pa (akong nare-tecom-
mend). Ilung tado na sinabi ni Sen,
Bong Go, more or less ay iluo din
ilung lalabas sa recommendation
ko fNone yet. The dree mentioned
by Sen. Bong Go, more or less will
come out in my recommenda-
tion]," Afro said.
The requirements being consid-
ered for the next PNP chief in-
dude seniority, merit ot reputation,
and experience or performance of
asslgnment.
Aio said he has been too focused
. oo theDILGb ninjacops inr,estiga-
tion and has not put too much at-
tention on his recommendation list.
On the investigations on the ninja
cops, Aio said he is waiting for the
conclusion of t}le Senate inquhy to
be able to wrap up his own probe.
The President had otdered Aio
to conduct a separate investigation
on the ninja cops and to submit
his recommendations, from which
Duterte will decide if he will uphold
ot reject the decision and eventually
decide the fare of *re ninja cops.
Albayalde, who is set to retire on
Novembet 8, has been under fire
following the alleged involvement
of 13-ering po)icemen in the re-
cycling and selling of illegal drugs
that y'ere seized during a poiice
operetion in Mexico in Pampanga
in 2013. -Albayalde at the time was
the Pampanga provincial police
cl'ief . -With Joecljn MontcmoJor