Solons resume probe on Tondo shabu haul linking PNP officials

By Jovee Marie N. Dela Cruz @joveemarie

THE House Committee on Dangerous Drugs will resume its probe on April 26 on the anomaly-laden seizure of 990 kilos of shabu in Tondo, Manila to pinpoint accountability of alleged “ninja cops” involved in the drug haul. The probe is also seen leading to the crafting of new laws to deter, if not prevent, the involvement of cops in the recycling of illegal drugs.

P anel chairman Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace S. Barbers was quoted in a statement as saying that members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), particularly those who were seen in the video footage at the crime scene are expected to attend the hearing. The footage showed these cops were at the WPD Lending office located along A. Bonifacio Street, Tondo, Manila, on October 8, 2022.

T hey were identified as: Police Lt. Gen. Benjamin D. Santos Jr., who was then Deputy Chief PNP for Operations; Brig. Gen. Narciso D. Domingo, director of the PNP

Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG); Col. Julian T. Olonan, chief of the PDEG Special Operations Unit (SOU) Region 4A; and, Capt. Jonathan S. Sosongco, head of the PDEG SOU 4A arresting team.

Not apprised

ALSO invited were: Lt. Col. Arnulfo G. Ibañez, OIC of the PDEG SOU National Capital Region (NCR); Maj. Michael Angelo C. Salmingo, deputy of PDEG SOU NCR; Lt. Col. Glenn Gonzales of the Quezon City Police District; Lt. Ashrap Amerol, intelligence officer of PDEG Intelligence and Foreign Liaison Division; Lt. Col. Harry R. Lorenzo III, Manila Police District Moriones Station Commander; and, Capt. Randolph Piñon, chief of PDEG SOU 4A Intelligence Section.

Barbers said the other resource persons they invited to the hearing include the following: Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos; Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla; PNP chief Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Acorda Jr.; Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director General Moro Vir- gilio M. Lazo; former PDEA chief Wilkins M. Villanueva; former PDEA NCR Director Alvin Alvarin; Bureau of Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio; Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Artemio M. Abu; NBI Director Medardo G. De Lemos; and, P/MSgt. Rodolfo Mayo

Jr. Mayo owns the WPD Lending where the shabu were seized.

B arbers said that since October 8 last year, the public and lawmakers “have not been apprised clearly” on what had transpired in the PNP’s internal investigations on the incident and who were the officers charged in court for their alleged attempts to recycle 42 kilos of shabu and cover-up the incident.

Only Mayo

ACCORDING to Barbers, “as far as we know, only dismissed P/MSgt. Mayo had been charged in court. We have not heard or seen any details of his administrative and criminal cases. What about the other officers who we believe participated in the alleged double coverup and double recycling attempts in said incident,” Barbers said.

And based on documents, police reports, video footages and television interviews by police officers involved in the case, we have noticed irreconcilable inconsistencies on their narrative of the incident, particularly the narrative that Mayo was arrested in a buy-bust operation at 9 p.m. of October 8, 2022 for possession of two kilos of shabu,” he added. Barbers said the ongoing PNP investigations on the case are also deafeningly silent on Mayo’s stockpile of more than 990 kilos of shabu. Because it is very important and very urgent for the police agency to find out the surrounding circumstances behind this particular drugrecycling activity,” the lawmaker said. “The reason is simply because they provide factual information needed to establish accountability and effective policies to prevent similar incidents in the future.” B arbers added that “the most significant information to attain this objective is to determine the source or sources of the recycled drugs, how they were obtained and who are the illegal participants in this illegal activity.”