Who can blame the President for focusing so much on the drug problem, now that we discover the pervasiveness of this crime network?
I strongly believe President Duterte’s leadership will surmount yet another big challenge confronting its war against illegal drugs, the possibility of rampant activities of so-called “ninja cops” throughout the Philippine National Police, the subject of an ongoing Senate Blue Ribbon Committee inquiry.
Manong Digong clarified though that the two “ninja generals” he mistakably mentioned during his Russia trip are actually lower-ranking officials, like police colonels. In that case it is very unsettling just the same.
Also, he has yet to decide on the fate of PNP Chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde, who was implicated in the 2013 case of 13 ninja cops under his command in Pampanga.
The President demanded proof of the allegations of coddling ninja cops against Albayalde, who is set to retire in a month.
It’s unfortunate that the revelations against Albayalde had to come from retired police general and now Baguio City Mayor Ben Magalong and Director General Aaron Aquino of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. They are both the PNP chief’s upperclassmen at the Philippine Military Academy.
Albayalde has denied the allegations, saying it’s all “a thing of the past.”
Well, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior and Local Government have announced they will conduct independent, parallel investigation on the issue of ninja cops.
Ninja cops are those who "recycle" drugs contraband mostly shabu (crystal meth) seized from drug dealers, and sold back to drug lords.
Apparently, these unwelcome developments have inevitably maligned the government’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, and the President soon must choose a creditably able successor to the besieged PNP Chief to lead the war on drugs in the remaining half of his term.
So, who can blame the President for focusing so much on the drug problem, now that we discover the pervasiveness of this crime network, penetrating even the PNP, other government agencies, and even the judiciary?
In a sense, our illegal drug problem is becoming more like that of Mexico and other Latin American countries gripped by the drug menace and ruthless drug cartels.
Definitely, the drug network is connected to the illegal drugs’ proliferation inside the national prisons, and the continued operations of detained drug lords in the past years.
Little did we know that thousands of hardened criminals, mostly drug lords and drug dealers, have been granted parole by the crooks at BuCor in exchange for millions of pesos under the anomalous Good Conduct Time Allowance parole program pursuant to RA 10592.
The Senate, in aid of legislation, has done a great job ferreting out the truth in the law enforcement operations against illegal drugs.
As I said in my previous column, these recent events have dramatized that truth is stranger than fiction, in reference to a popular teleserye based on Fernando Poe Jr.’s classic, Probinsyano.
It’s intriguing to note that the PNP has even complained about the said teleserye’s storyline about underdog cop Cardo Dalisay’s bloody crusade against crooked policemen, as well as corrupt politicians, merciless warlords and ruthless drug mafias.
But, all is not lost in Manong Digong's crusade against mind-twisting drugs that victimize millions of Filipinos.
I’m very confident the Duterte leadership will prevail in its war on drugs with a new PNP Chief, who has the heart of Dalisay of the Ang Probinsyano teleserye.