Palace: Duterte will enforce law vs Albayalde ‘if there is evidence of wrongdoing’
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Tue, 15 Oct 2019 07:59:30 +0000
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will enforce the country’s laws on resigned Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Oscar Albayade “if there is evidence against any wrongdoing,” Malacañang assured the public on Tuesday.
Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo made the assurance after Sen. Richard Gordon said it would be a “national disappointment” if the Duterte administration would choose not to file administrative and criminal charges against Albayalde and other erring police officers over the alleged drug recycling activities.
“Bakit naman (Why would he say we) will not react? The President is the number one enforcer of the law. So if there is evidence against any wrongdoing then it behooves the government to file and prosecute,” Panelo said during a press conference.
Panelo, who also serves as Duterte’s top legal counsel, claimed that Albayalde was absolved of his administrative case after he resigned from his post but also stressed that the PNP chief may face criminal charges, if the Department of Justice (DoJ) could determine “probable cause”.
“Oo DOJ siyempre. Kasi di ba either magrecommend ang Senado for prosecution o yung DILG, then bahala na ang DoJ (That’s up to the DoJ. Because it’s either the Senate or the DILG [Department of Interior and Local Government] that will recommend for prosecution, then the DoJ will decide),” he said.
“Mahirap magsalita diyan kasi hindi naman tayo ang investigator eh (It’s hard to talk about it because we are not the investigator). It’s the prosecutor who will determine the existence of probable cause,” he said when asked if Albayalde has criminal liability.
Albayalde on Monday relinquished his post as the country’s top police chief amid an investigation into his alleged involvement in drug recycling in Pampanga in 2013.
During a media interview on Monday, Gordon said that Duterte should pursue charges against Albayalde for him to show that he did not give special treatment to erring subordinates.
“That will be a national disappointment [if the government would not file a case against Albayalde]… They should dig up cases. We already dug up cases. The administration should dig up cases for us to have strong evidence,” Gordon told reporters.
At the very least, the senator said Albayalde was facing charges for neglect of duty, corruption, conspiracy, and violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drug Act of 2002 (Republic Act 9165), among others.
The filing of charges should also include the 13 Pampanga police officers who were involved in the irregular drug sting in Mexico, Pampanga, on Nov. 29, 2013, where they were accused of pilfering millions of pesos worth of illegal drugs.
They were found guilty for grave misconduct in 2014 for failing to account for all confiscated evidence during the operation.
But Albayalde, the second PNP chief under Duterte, had denied the accusations against him, saying “it seems that everybody is ganging up on me” and that “it’s as if I’m being crucified already.”
Gordon, who heads the Senate blue ribbon and justice and human rights committees, said that the committee would release its report and recommendations later this week. CATHERINE S. VALENTE