By Beatrice Puente
(March 27, 2023) – The Philippine National Police (PNP) must find the protector of a police officer who was implicated in the confiscation of P6.7 billion worth of shabu in Manila last year, a lawmaker said on Monday, stressing that the dismissed individual could not have acted alone.
Surigao del Norte Rep. Ace Barbers, the chairperson of the panel on dangerous drugs, lamented the slow development of the case filed against Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr., almost six months since his arrest. Barbers urged the PNP Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) to quickly address the matter.
“Alam naman natin na hindi makakagalaw si Mayo mag-isa sa kanyang iligal na gawain. Gusto rin natin malaman kung ang nakumpiskang shabu sa Tondo ay mga naipon sa past anti-drug operations o ang mga ito’y bagong delivery from China,” said Barbers in a statement.
Mayo, a former intelligence officer of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group, was arrested following a series of operations that yielded the seizure of 990 kilograms of shabu in Tondo last October. He was found to be an accomplice of Ney Saligumba Atadero who was arrested in the bust.
PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. approved Mayo’s dismissal last March 6, upholding the recommendation of the Internal Affairs Service after it found him guilty of grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer.
“He (Mayo) will receive nothing. All of his privileges as a police officer are gone. His retirement benefits are all forfeited,” said PNP spokesperson Jean Fajardo last week.
Aside from his administrative case, Mayo is also detained at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig for violating the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act.
Barbers said he recognized the need to uphold due process in the case. But he pointed out that the PNP must work double time to ease people’s doubts about its progress.
“Why is it that said PNP SITG is foot-dragging or dilly-dallying on their probe? Are they covering up for something we don’t know or are they still trying to make up a different script about his arrest and involvement in shabu stockpiling and possibly for recycling,” asked Barbers.
Recently, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) revealed the illicit practice of drug recycling after an informant promised to provide them with “jobs” in exchange for a portion of the narcotics seized in operations. But PDEA chief Moro Virgilio Lazo maintained that they do not tolerate it.
Barbers said they won’t stop until “all these crooks in uniform” are unmasked and punished for what they did.
Before this, Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. asked high-ranking police officers to submit their “courtesy resignations” to weed the PNP of bad eggs involved in drug activities. A five-person committee is still reviewing the filings.
(PM)
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