THE chairman of the Philippine National Police Academy Alumni Association, Inc. or PNPAAAI yesterday said they won’t condone illegal individual acts by some of their fellow PNPA graduates but maintained that due process and fairness in the search for the truth must always be observed.

Retired Police Major General Gilbert DC Cruz, now the Executive Director of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission made the statement in the wake of the ongoing investigation into a controversial raid in Parañaque City undertaken by some officers and men of the Southern Police District.

The ongoing congressional investigation into the Parañaque City raid last September 16 which involved at least four PNPA graduates is being closely watched by the PNPAAAI which has consistently supported the PNP’s effort to rid the police force of misfits and scalawags although they have emphasized that ‘due process’ must always prevail and in any case, ‘let the ax fall where it may.’

PNPA graduates or ‘Lakans’ at present comprise the majority of the Officers’ Corps of the PNP and are behind the daily successful anti-criminality, anti-terror, and anti-corruption accomplishments of the police force.

“We don’t condone such individual act or undertaking by some of our fellow Lakans but we are also calling for the natural flow of the criminal justice system prevail, meaning a just and fair investigation on any reported illegal acts committed by our fellow Academy graduates,” Undersecretary Cruz, a member of PNPA ‘Tagapagtanggol’ Class of 1986 said.

Cruz spoke on behalf of the 7,391-strong PNPAAAI which last year also called on the Department of Interior and Local Government and the PNP leadership to follow due process and fairness in its search for the truth on the mystery behind the more than a ton of shabu worth over P8 billion discovered inside a lending firm-turned drug warehouse in Sta. Cruz, Manila in October 2022.

Several PNPA graduates have been cited for contempt by a House panel probing the alleged illegal arrest of four Chinese individuals in Parañaque City in September last year.

Last Monday, the former SPD director and his comptroller were cited for contempt by the House Committee on Public Order and Safety after they were deemed lying during the hearing. Both were ordered held at the lock-up facility of the House of Representatives for 30 days along with six other former SPD officers.

The hearing is in connection with the arrest of the Chinese nationals in a Parañaque condominium where the raiders were able to seize P27 million. The raiders were accused of ‘planting’ a caliber .45 pistol at the condominium unit of their target, the gun found to be owned by one of their two ‘informants.’

National Capital Region Police Office director, Major General Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. said that a first report sent to him by the SPD showed that during the raid, the SPD District Special Operations Unit only got P4.6 million and not P27 million.

The investigation started after Antipolo City (2nd District) Representative Romeo M. Acop filed House Resolution No. 1471 to look into allegations that four Chinese nationals were allegedly unlawfully arrested and brought to Room 1811 of Solemare Parksuites condominium in Parañaque last September 16.

Rep. Acop said the victims were “detained for several hours without being informed of their alleged offense and Miranda rights and were deprived of contact with their legal representation.”

The PNPAAAI chair said they are also fully supporting the ongoing internal cleansing program of the Department of Interior and Local Government headed by Sec. Benjamin C. Abalos Jr. and the PNP headed by General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr.

At the height of the investigation into the 990 kilos of shabu last year, the PNPAAAI board said the PNP, as an institution has survived many’ battles’ despite the involvement of countless serious officials in crime and lawlessness, some of which are beyond imagination.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon