Adjudication on cops on ‘narco list’ enters final phase

He said the national adjudication board has started to review the findings of some regional offices that have only a few police personnel on the drug list. (File Photo: Philippine National Police/Facebook)

MANILA — The adjudication process on the police officers allegedly involved in illegal drugs is on its final phase, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Wednesday.

“Now, we are in the last phase of our adjudication process. The regional adjudication board has submitted its report to the national adjudication board so that we can beat the deadline which is before March 5,” PNP spokesperson, Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said in a press conference in Camp Crame in Quezon City.

He said the national adjudication board has started to review the findings of some regional offices that have only a few police personnel on the drug list.

He added that the other regions that have relatively many personnel on the list have yet to submit their reports.

“Let us wait for the findings to be submitted first to President Rodrigo Duterte before March,” he said.

As soon as the adjudication process is done, Banac said the PNP will investigate the sources of the information against police officers who were cleared.

“Kasama yan sa titingnan ng PNP matapos lamang itong 30-day (adjudication) period. Titingnan natin paano nagsimula, sino ang dapat na habulin din sa pagpapakalat ng maling impormasyon (That is included in what will the PNP do after the 30-day adjudication period. We will dig into how it all started and whom we should hold liable for spreading false information),” Banac said.

He said it is likely that professional jealousy prompted some police officers vying for higher ranks to fabricate reports against their colleagues whom they consider as rivals.

He said this is the reason why the PNP is careful in invalidating and adjudicating the cases of all 356 policemen on the list.

Police officers proven to be spreading false claims on the drug list may face grave misconduct that could lead to dismissal from the service, he said.

Banac assured that those who were sharing false information would be sanctioned under the internal disciplinary mechanism of the PNP.

Aside from the policemen, other sources of the information on the drug list are intelligence units, media, church, and civic organizations, Banac said.

Once all the cases are submitted to the Office of the Chief PNP, it will take three days for him to submit the results of the adjudication to the President for approval.