Barbers panel resumes probe on Tondo shabu haul
THE House Committee on Dangerous Drugs will resume its probe this Wednesday on the alleged anomaly-laden seizure of 990 kilos of shabu in Tondo, Manila on October 8 last year, to pinpoint accountability of alleged “ninja cops” involved in the drug haul and craft new laws to deter, if not prevent, anti-drug agents’ involvement in the “recycling” of illegal drugs.
Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers, panel chairman, said he has invited to attend the hearing officers and men of the Philippine National Police (PNP), particularly those who were seen in the video footage at the crime scene – at the WPD Lending office – located along A. Bonifacio St., Tondo, Manila on Oct. 8, 2022.
They were Police Lt. Gen. Benjamin Santos Jr., who was then Deputy Chief PNP for Operations; Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo, director of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG); Col. Julian Olonan, chief of PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) Special Operations Unit (SOU) Region 4A; and Capt. Jonathan Sosongco, head of the PNP-DEG SOU 4A arresting team.
Also invited were Lt. Col. Arnulfo Ibañez, OIC (Officer-in-Charge) of PNP-DEG SOU National Capital Region (NCR); Maj. Michael Angelo Salmingo, deputy of PNP-DEG SOU NCR; Lt. Col. Glenn Gonzales of Quezon City Police District (QCPD); Lt. Ashrap Amerol, intelligence officer of PNP-DEG Intelligence and Foreign Liaison Division; Lt. Col. Harry Lorenzo, Manila Police District (MPD) Moriones station commander; and Captain Randolph Piñon, chief of PNP-DEG SOU 4A Intelligence Section.
Barbers said the other resource persons invited to the hearing were Interior and Local Government Sec. Benhur Abalos; Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla; Maj. Gen. Benjamin Acorda, PNP chief; Ret. P/Gen. Virgilio Lazo, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA); former PDEA chief Wilkins Villanueva; former PDEA NCR Director Alvin Alvarin; Bienvenido Rubio of the Bureau of Customs BOC; Admiral Artemio Abu, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG); National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Medardo De Lemos; and Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo, Jr., of PNP-DEG and owner of the lending office where the 990 kilos of shabu were seized.
The solon from Mindanao said that since October 8 last year, the public, including concerned lawmakers, have not been apprised clearly of what had transpired in the PNP’s internal investigations on the incident and officers charged in court for their alleged attempts to recycle 42 kilos of shabu and “cover-up” the incident.
“As far as we know, only dismissed P/MSgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr. 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 cover-up and double recycling attempts in said incident,” Barbers said.
“And based on documents, police reports, video footages, and TV interviews by police officers involved in the case, we have noticed irreconcilable inconsistencies [in] their narrative of the incident, particularly the narrative that Sgt. 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 drug recycling activity.”
“Sa ngayon, naka-focus ang police at publiko sa 42 kilos na pinuslit ng dalawang ahente ng PNP-DEG SOU Region 4a na balak nilang i-recycle. Pero dapat din bigyang diin saan nanggaling yung 990 kilos na shabu na na ire-recycle din. The reason is simply because they provide factual information needed to establish accountability and effective policies to prevent similar incident in the future,” he explained.
“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,” he added.
