MANILA, Philippines –  A lawmaker called out Philippine National Police (PNP) officers involved in the P6.7 billion shabu bust for discrepancies in their testimonies during an investigation by the House of Representatives committee on dangerous drugs on Wednesday, April 26.

The testimony of the PNP top brass were inconsistent with the date, time, and place of arrests of Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo Jr., the anti-drug cop who was linked to the almost a ton of shabu discovered in Tondo, Manila, last October 2022, and his alleged accomplice Ney Atadero.

“Kami nalilito. Isa sa inyo’y nagsisinungaling. Sabi ng boss mo, nagkaroon ng arrest sa Bambang. Sabi mo, inaresto mo yung Atadero sa WPD lending (We are confused. One of you is lying. Your boss said the arrest was in Bambang [market]. One of you said it was Atadero who was arrested at WPD lending,” said Surigao Representative Ace Barbers, the dangerous drugs committee chairperson.

Barbers was speaking to Brigadier General Narcisco Domingo Jr., former PNP Drug Enforcement Group chief; and Lieutenant Colonel Julius Olonan, PDEG special operations unit Calabarzon chief; as well as Captain Jonathan Sosongco, who led the drug bust.

The three were among the 10 ranking officers told to go on leave after the National Police Commission’s fact-finding board found evidence of an alleged attempt to cover up Mayo’s arrest. 

Later, a total of 49 cops were found to have allegedly committed lapses in the drug bust, and were ordered to return their service firearms, following a probe by the SITG 990 (special investigation task group).

Inconsistencies

Olonan said that only Atadero, a non-PNP suspect, was arrested at 1 pm at WPD lending in Tondo, the alleged front business that turned out to be a drug den, while Mayo was arrested in Bambang.  While Sosongco told congressmen that Mayo and Atadero were both captured at around 4 pm in WPD. 

Mayo and Atadero also appeared at the seven-hour hearing in the afternoon, but refused to answer questions, invoking their right against self-incrimination. 

Domingo, for his part, denied there was an attempt to coverup Mayo’s arrest. He said that the presence of senior officials in the CCTV speaking in vehicles was to discuss their next moves. 

No coverup?

“For the record may I emphasize there was no massive attempted coverup that happened, otherwise I would not have reported following to HQ,” Domingo told the committee.   

“We would not have conducted CCTV backtracking in the crime scene to possibly identify other cohorts of the suspects. We would have no longer exerted efforts to identify those who are actually involved in the pilferage.  We would not have exerted effort to recover the pilfered 42 kilos of shabu and had submitted the CCTV footage to the SITG (special investigation task group) 990, and to the National Police Commission (Napolcom),” Domingo said. 

He also said that he has been cooperative with the Department of Justice in its case buildup against the suspects.

Police General Benjamin Acorda Jr., the newly-appointed PNP chief, told the House committee that wrongdoings by police personnel would not be tolerated under his leadership.  – Rappler.com