{"id":232551,"date":"2019-09-27T00:07:23","date_gmt":"2019-09-27T04:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=232551"},"modified":"2019-09-27T00:07:23","modified_gmt":"2019-09-27T04:07:23","slug":"ninja-cop-syndicate-a-thing-of-the-past-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/09\/27\/ninja-cop-syndicate-a-thing-of-the-past-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ninja cop’ syndicate \u2018a thing of the past\u2019: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
\u201cHe (Albayalde) told me that he updated the President on the status of the drug war; he told him about the so-called ninja cops syndicate and revealed to the President that that ninja cops syndicate is a thing of the past \u2013 that happened during the previous years of the previous administration,\u201d Panelo said in a Palace briefing. (File Photo:<\/a> Philippine National Police\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— The “ninja cop” syndicate, or those involved in the recycling of seized illegal drugs, have been dismantled according to the Philippine National Police (PNP), Malaca\u00f1ang said on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said PNP chief, Gen. Oscar Albayalde bared this after briefing President Rodrigo Duterte on the status of the campaign against illegal drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Albayalde) told me that he updated the President on the status of the drug war; he told him about the so-called ninja cops syndicate and revealed to the President that that ninja cops syndicate is a thing of the past \u2013 that happened during the previous years of the previous administration,\u201d Panelo said in a Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat has been dismantled during the term of former PNP Chief General, now Senator Ronald dela Rosa and during his term,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Panelo said while the ninja cop syndicate has been wiped out, police scalawags remain.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are referring to the ninja cops that was a syndicate during the previous administration, yes. But we have police scalawags still involved in the drug thing,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

He, meanwhile, maintained the difference between ninja cops and police scalawags with the former being part of a syndicate and the latter operating individually.<\/p>\n

\u201cAng<\/em>\u00a0difference\u00a0daw<\/em>\u00a0is\u00a0iyong<\/em>\u00a0ninja cop is it was a syndicate;\u00a0sindikato, kumbaga talagang may<\/em>\u00a0conspiracy,\u00a0may mga<\/em>\u00a0link\u00a0ang bawat isa<\/em>\u00a0(The difference is that ninja cops are part of a syndicate, in other words, they\u2019re part of a conspiracy, they have links against themselves),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPero itong mga<\/em>\u00a0(But these) police scalawags,\u00a0kaniya-kaniya…kumbaga mga<\/em>\u00a0individual cases,\u00a0walang<\/em>\u00a0(operate individually, have individual cases, they don\u2019t have) conspiracy among themselves,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The Palace official said Albayalde has assured Duterte that his agency has undertaken operations against these ninja cops which yielded 124 policemen killed during entrapments and a hundred others arrested.<\/p>\n

Earlier, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Aaron Aquino said a total of 53 active police officers have been named ninja cops.<\/p>\n

Aquino said the list of ninja cops came from Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, former chief of the PNP\u2019s Criminal Investigation Detection Group (CIDG).<\/p>\n

Asked to comment on the difference between Albayalde and Aquino\u2019s conflicting statements, Panelo refused to take sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a messenger. That\u2019s the message,\u201d Panelo said, stressing that he was not dismissing Aquino\u2019s statement but merely relaying what Albayalde said.<\/p>\n

Panelo said he personally believed Albayade for having \u201cdeveloped a reputation for a man of integrity.\u201d However, he also acknowledged that there were still some ninja cops left to wipe out.<\/p>\n

He said the list of ninja cops has to be validated by the President himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cHindi pa lahat<\/em>\u00a0validated\u00a0iyon<\/em>\u00a0(They\u2019re not all validated yet). That\u2019s precisely why\u00a0na kay Presidente eh<\/em>\u00a0(the list is with the President) so, the President will validate that on his own resources,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

The Palace official vowed to make public a list of names of the police scalawags.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will provide you with the names because the PNP Chief committed to me that he will submit the names including those arrested,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Panelo said Albayalde did not mention whether Duterte had asked him about speculations on his involvement in the ninja cop syndicate but assured that the PNP chief still has Duterte\u2019s trust and confidence.<\/p>\n

Should Albayalde be on the list of police scalawags, Panelo said there will be no sacred cows.<\/p>\n

\u201cKahit na sinong kasama, kapag<\/em>\u00a0involved,\u00a0tatanggalin ni Presidente iyon. Hindi lang tatanggalin \u2013 may<\/em>\u00a0(Anyone on the list, if involved, the President will dismiss him. Not just dismiss-there will be) criminal prosecution,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

Anti-drugs drive succeeding<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panelo reiterated that despite police scalawags, Duterte\u2019s campaign against illegal drugs is \u201csucceeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are succeeding in the war on drugs. The fact alone that can you imagine\u00a0na<\/em>\u00a0(that there were) 124 policemen killed in entrapment operations \u2013 successful\u00a0ka<\/em>\u00a0(that means you\u2019re successful),\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

He said the PNP chief disclosed that his agency has dismantled PHP132-billion worth of shabu.<\/p>\n

Asked to measure the extent of the police scalawag problem, Panelo said: \u201cWhen even one policeman involved, it\u2019s serious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile, warned police officers from participating in illegal drug activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf all members of the policemen are listening, huwag na kayong sumali doon sa<\/em>\u00a0124\u00a0na napatay<\/em>\u00a0(don\u2019t be one of the 124 who has been killed). Sooner or later, you will be entrapped and you might end up dead if you fight and resist arrest,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

In a speech at the Golden Topper Corporate Launch in Para\u00f1aque City, Duterte warned police officers against participating in the illegal drug trade or risk their early demise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some people, like policemen, you have to beg then they are at it again, and they sell drugs and they go scot-free and they think that they are the lords of this country. Well, I\u2019m sorry to tell you, everybody dies in this world but you will go ahead first. Remember that,\u201d Duterte said.<\/p>\n

Panelo translated Duterte\u2019s use of \u201ckill\u201d as \u201cpursue you to the ends of the earth and put you behind bars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow if you resist, oh that\u2019s the time you will be killed \u2013 in defense,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— The “ninja cop” syndicate, or those involved in the recycling of seized illegal drugs, have been dismantled according to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":232552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-232551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=232551"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":232553,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/232551\/revisions\/232553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/232552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=232551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=232551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=232551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}