THE 5-man advisory group tasked by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to go after senior Philippine National Police officials with purported drug links has already processed 118 3rd-Level Officers as of Friday, its spokesperson said yesterday.

According to Colonel Redrico A. Maranan, also the chief of the PNP Public Information Office, the committee convened on Friday to mark its 2nd formal meeting relative to the evaluation process of the senior PNP officers.

PNP chief General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., retired General-turned Baguio City Mayor Benjamin B. Magalong, former Defense Secretary Gilbert C. Teodoro and retired General-turned Presidential Adviser on Police Affairs, Undersecretary Isagani R. Nerez were present in the meeting held at Camp Crame.

Maranan said that the members of the advisory group discussed the guidelines and procedures of the evaluation process in details and later agreed to have them finalized and adapted.

The official said that 118 senior officers were processed on Friday’s evaluation while the remaining more than 800 are set to be evaluated in the next meetings which were agreed to be done twice a week either in person or through video conferencing.

“Rest assured that the advisory group will be keen on the assessment of all reports against these senior officers and at the same time will be fair, objective and judicious in every step of the process to realize the very purpose of this noble endeavor,” Col. Maranan said.

On Monday, Gen. Azurin said he had already met with the four members of the advisory group last Monday to discuss the house rules to be used in evaluating and assessing the more than 900 3rd Level PNP Officers who tendered their courtesy resignations to PBBM last January.

The 5th member of the advisory group is retired Court of Appeals Associate Justice Melchor Q. Sadang.

The President earlier rejected the courtesy resignation of Gen. Azurin, the 28th PNP chief and the 1st to be designated as the country’s top cop by PBBM in August last year and appointed him to the 5-Man committee since the latter knows who really should be in, who should be out in the organization.

“When the President said that i would be part of the advisory group, practically he cleared me kasi definitely hindi ako magiging part kung hindi ako cleared,” Gen. Azurin said.

According to the official, part of their discussion before he met the press is “how we intend to finish the job in less than three months, dapat kasi mas mabilis.”

All other four members of the Advisory Group have been provided with data regarding those who filed their courtesy resignations following an appeal from Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin ‘Benhur’ C. Abalos Jr.

“As part of the process, we made an initial draft for the members to comment and make the final recommendation. At least me working draft na pag-uumpisahan para sa paggawa ng policies and rules,” he said.

The PNP chief said that since he is a member of the advisory group, he deemed it wise to make the working draft for comment of the rest of the council. It’s about the scope, the limitation. Papaano gagawin and we will agree on the final draft based on the recommendation of the other members. Kung puwede nga lang na matapos within the day or the week, the better,” he said.

Gen. Azurin said that the data provided to the group not only those coming from intelligence agencies but also cases filed against the officers when they were operating in the war on drugs specifically during the previous Duterte administration.

“We would like to know kung ano na status nung mga cases filed against them previously. Will they stand in court or were they dismissed because of mere technicalities and why,? he said.

The PNP chief however said that they are looking purely at the involvement of officers in illegal drug activities, whether directly or indirectly and would leave to the rest of the group if there is a need to subject anybody to a lifestyle check.

Gen. Azurin maintained he has asked the rest of the group to be fair in screening the list.

“Hindi pa nga napapangalanan ang committee, we’re already asking for fairness, na walang maagrabiyado. We need to understand that these officers worked hard for the last 30 years and we will make sure na walang biases dito,” he said.

He added that they also need to meet to prepare for their agenda and discuss how frequently they can have their session and of course, decide on the venue. “We will meet either dito or if busy si Mayor Magalong, we will go to Baguio para hindi naman taxing ke Mayor na siya lagi ang bumababa dito,” the PNP chief said.

Gen. Azurin said that as agreed upon, the final recommendation of the 5-Man Advisory Group will be forwarded to the National Police Commission chaired by Sec. Abalos for a final review before being forwarded to President Marcos for his final approval.

“Kung me motion or complaint, after na yun ng approval ng Presidente kasi it would already become final and executory,” he said.

All members of the group are known for their impeccable character and untarnished integrity.

Gen. Azurin is a member of Philippine Military Academy Class 1989 while Magalong is from PMA Class 1982. Nerez, a lawyer who used to be a Cordillera Police Regional Office director like Magalong, belongs to PMA Class 1984.

The DILG chief described the courtesy resignations of the senior PNP officials as a radical move aimed at thoroughly cleansing the police force of officials with links to illegal drug activities. “I am definite that this advisory group shall remain apolitical throughout the process of screening and in the end, penalize only those guilty and involved in the illegal drug trade,” he underscored.

The DILG chief said that while 12 of the 955 PNP generals and colonels did not file their courtesy resignations, technically, only one top-ranking police officer did not heed his call ahead of the January 31 deadline.