Another policeman was arrested in a drug buy-bust operation Monday night in Sta. Cruz, Manila, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.
This was as PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said only 18 police generals and full colonels have yet to heed Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos’ call for them to submit their courtesy resignations in the government’s bid to purge the force of “ninja cops” or those involved in the illegal drug trade.
In a radio interview, Fajardo said 98% or 935 out of 953 senior PNP officers have already tendered their courtesy resignations as of Monday.
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) announced the arrest of Police Staff Sergeant (PSSg) Ed Dyson Banaag, 34, assigned to the PNP Drug Enforcement Group in Camp Crame.
A composite team from the NCRPO Drug Enforcement Unit, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG)-NCR, and Manila Police District-Sta. Cruz Police Station arrested Banaag at the corner of Rizal Avenue and Lope De Vega Street in Barangay 312 around 8:45 p.m.
Banaag was caught selling to a police poseur buyer one plastic sachet containing 25 grams of shabu worth P47,000. He tried to escape on board a motorcycle but was cornered after he lost control and fell to the ground.
Also seized from the policeman was P170,000 worth of shabu, a Glock 17 9mm pistol loaded with 15 bullets, his PNP Identification card, a Yamaha NMaX motorcycle, a mobile phone, and the money used in the entrapment operation.
The authorities also arrested two other policemen, identified as PSSg Raymund Portes and PSSg Jerry Saratobias Jr., for obstruction of justice.
PNP-Public Information Office chief, Col. Redrico Maranan, said Banaag was assigned to PDEG on Jan. 4, 2023, from the CIDG and had yet to report in its office.
He said Banaag’s assignment to PDEG is currently undergoing investigation.
“The duo was found to be former colleagues of PSSg Banaag in CIDG in Camp Crame, who intervened during the process of inventory and investigation carried out by the operating unit,” said NCRPO director Maj. Gen. Jonnel Estomo.
Banaag and his colleagues are now detained and will be charged with violation of Section 5, Article II, of Republic Act 9165, and Obstruction of Justice, respectively before the Manila City Prosecutor’s Office.
“That’s what we want to see (screening of police officers assigned to PDEG) because when the police go to the special unit, there is a vetting process. There is even a complete background investigation to ensure that the person is clean and that you are eligible for the special unit,” Maranan told reporters.
Banaag is not the first operative of PDEG—the PNP’s main unit in charge of anti-illegal drug operations—arrested for illegal drugs.
Last year, Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr., a member of the PDEG Special Operations Unit in the NCR, yielded P13.6 million worth of shabu inside his lending company office in Quiapo, Manila.
Mayo’s arrest prompted an investigation which, according to Abalos, revealed that about 10 high-ranking police officials were involved in the illegal drugs trade.
This prompted the Interior secretary, with the approval of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., to call for the courtesy resignation of all police colonels and generals to weed out scalawags from the police force.
Abalos made the call amid reports of the return of so-called “ninja cops”—police officers involved in a money-making scheme through the resale of confiscated illegal drugs—in the police force.
Estomo assured the public that his men are committed to NCRPO’s thrust to continue the fight against illegal drugs.
“We have begun cleaning the ranks of the police by responding to the call of the DILG and PNP by resigning from the service of senior officers in the PNP and subjecting our police to NCRPO to mandatory drug testing,” he said.
“Now the leadership of NCRPO is serious about the relentless cleaning of our ranks from termites that are destroying it,” said Estomo.
“We will carry on and get rid of these drug personalities, especially if they are from the police service. We will never allow those bad eggs to tarnish our badges and the PNP organization.”
“This also serves as a warning to our personnel that we will never tolerate illegal acts or wrongdoings committed by anyone within our ranks,” he added.
A five-man committee, including Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong – a former No. 3 official of the PNP—will screen the resignations.
Fajardo said the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management is the one collating the documents of those who submitted their courtesy resignations.
She said these are set to be transmitted to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) once the five-man committee convenes.
Fajardo reiterated that PNP Chief General Rodolfo Azurin Jr. will wait until January 31, 2023 for other senior officers to submit their courtesy resignations.
