Drastic changes loom over the Philippine National Police (PNP) as its chief, Gen. Benjamin Acorda Jr., said he was weighing options on the fate of the special operations units (SOUs) involved in the anti-illegal drugs campaign.
Meanwhile, the PNP hierarchy has ordered an intensified intelligence monitoring on some 3,000 “erring” police officers to clear the force’s name amid the issue of the so-called “ninja cops” within its ranks.
Ninja cops are those suspected of involvement in returning to the black market their confiscated illegal drugs.
Acorda said he was carefully studying the reforms amid controversies that hounded the SOUs specifically in the conduct of buy-bust operations on the basis of information supplied by confidential informants or sources in the underground.
The PNP chief said he essentially wanted an intelligence-driven anti-drug campaigns, hinting that the question was whether to retain the SOUs or not.
The credibility and integrity of the entire PNP has been placed in serious jeopardy in light of questionable buy-bust operations and alleged involvement of high-ranking police officials including certain generals allegedly linked to the illegal drugs trade.
The House of Representatives has launched a thorough inquiry on the reported confiscation of nearly one ton of shabu or metamphetamine hydrochloride with an estimated value of P6.7 million from a lending company based right inside the Manila Police District in Ermita, Manila.
“It’s on my table and we need to really study it, but the direction is if we will be agreeable with the other minds na makokonsulta natin,’’ Acorda said.
He also said the PNP also vetting drug enforcement units nationwide.
Meanwhile, the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) said it was waiting for instructions from higher ups even as it continued normal operations.
“We are preparing in case the orders are to dissolve the SOUs,” PDEG deputy director for administration Col. Marlou Martinez said.
Martinez said the possible abolition of some SOUs would have an impact, mostly on the movement of personnel, evidence, and jurisdiction.
But at the same time, the move could also improve monitoring and control of operating units, he said.
“If we dissolve SOUs, we will return to the barracks. And from here, we will go to far-flung areas if we have operations,” Martinez said.
Acorda has said the derogatory records of these scalawags included involvement in extortion and illegal drugs, among others.
“We have been monitoring these personalities, those scalawags, and my instruction after hearing those adjudications is that intel operatives will actually work to make sure that they don’t do anything stupid anymore,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony inducting eight senior officials as major generals and brigadier generals.
“I am encouraging also the commanders at all levels to make sure the counter-intelligence function of their office is functioning at their level,” he added at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Tuesday.
This came after two generals and two colonels are facing administrative and criminal charges for their alleged links to the illegal drug trade, while 32 senior officers face further investigation and 917 others were cleared by an advisory group that screened the top ranks of the police force.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. has said the fate of the policemen involved in the missing drugs from the record P6.7-billion shabu haul seized last year would be known within the week.
The issue of “ninja cops” or those involved in the alleged recycling of illegal drugs seized from operations back to the street continues to hound the PNP.
To address this, Acorda said the PNP will implement radical moves to ensure “honest law enforcement operations,” including the possibility of dissolving the SOUs, notably the PDEG.
Acorda stressed that scalawags have no place in the organization, especially under his watch, as he vowed to implement an intensified internal cleansing.
He said the PNP Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) and the PNP Internal Affairs Service (IAS) would be given “more teeth” to weed out the erring personnel in the service.
IMEG is the primary PNP unit going after erring policemen while IAS is in charge of investigating the administrative charges against police officers.
Meanwhile, Acorda urged the public to report rogue police officers in their community just as he vowed that he would be “quick and decisive” in their cleansing efforts.
“We are really going to punish erring personnel but in a way that we are not going to disrespect their uniform… But definitely, we will be harsh to them especially if they are not going to change,” he said.
During the ceremony, Acorda also told the eight newly promoted senior officials to focus on their institutional priorities when making a decision.
“You should always think of the institutional priorities hence when you make a decision, you should always consider the institution that we serve for, so with your new rank now, don’t test your powers,” he said in his speech.
“You have that power already. Do not use (it) as a means to advance personal interest but rather use your rank in upholding institutional development and with that I hope with your new rank, use it for our unity,” he added.
In a separate briefing at the Department of the Interior and Local Government office in Quezon City on Monday, Abalos said the PNP advisory body “recommended the non-acceptance of the courtesy resignations of 917 police officers” and further investigation on 32 other officers.
The non-acceptance effectively means these generals and colonels were cleared from the extensive anti-drug probe ordered by the DILG, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo added during a public briefing at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Abalos also noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has already declared that he was accepting the courtesy resignation of two police generals.
Abalos said the National Police Commission (Napolcom) also issued a resolution to proceed with the pre-charge investigation against two colonels suspected of being so-called “ninja cops.”
“The Napolcom will recommend to the President that he should accept these colonels’ courtesy resignations as well, without prejudice to their administrative liability,” he added.
These measures, Abalos said, were based on the recommendations of the advisory body that looked into the involvement of PNP third-level officers — from colonels to generals — in the illegal drug trade.