Rodrigo Duterte offers to lead Philippine police force himself if he cannot find an ‘honest man’

President’s brutal war on drugs again under scrutiny after director general Oscar Albayalde stepped down last month, embroiled in ‘ninja cops’ scandal

Duterte also dismissed criticism urban poor have been disproportionately targeted, claiming bodies of dead kingpins have been dumped secretly

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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Photo: AP

Published: 6:00pm, 29 Nov 2019Updated: 8:08pm, 29 Nov 2019

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte this week suggested he could assume leadership of the country’s national police force as his signature crackdown on drugs comes under renewed scrutiny.

The position of he Philippine National Police (PNP) director general has been vacant since Oscar Albayalde stepped down last month after becoming embroiled in a scandal over “ninja cops” accused of confiscating drugs and then selling them.

Duterte on Thursday insisted the next chief of the PNP would need to have a spotless record and indicated he would fill the position himself “in the event that I could not find somebody I could trust”.

“If they have even a single case of corruption, I would rather not appoint anybody for that matter … Ako na ang hahawak [I will lead them],” Duterte told reporters in Malacañang.

Albayalde was accused by a Senate panel of preventing the dismissal of 13 policeman who carried out a raid on a crystal meth lab in Pampanga in 2013 before allegedly selling the drugs and letting the main suspect go free for 50 million pesos (US$965,000). Albayalde, who was the police director of Pampanga at the time, allegedly took payment from the sale of the drugs and protected the officers involved, who all bought new cars following the raid.

“The tokhang [war on drugs] campaign, which has killed thousands of people and supposedly drug dealers … loses its credibility when you hear of these allegations between high-ranking officials of the PNP,” senate minority leader Franklin Drilon said last month.

Oscar Albayalde (left) stepped down as director general last month. Photo: AP

Three candidates are currently being considered to lead the PNP: Archie Gamboa, Guillermo Eleazar and Camilo Pancratius Cascolan. Gamboa is the acting PNP chief and has initiated legal action against Albayalde and sacked three of the accused “ninja cops”. However, Gamboa has also been accused of protecting the team leader of the Pampanga raid, recommending suspension instead of sacking.