Philippines police chief lost moral standing over ‘ninja cops’ scandal: critics

General Oscar Albayalde’s decision to go on leave ahead of his retirement was a soft exit, his critics said, given his alleged involvement in a case where policemen sold drugs they had confiscated

Albayalde is the second official appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte to have left their post amid scandal in recent months

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Former Philippine national police chief Oscar Albayalde and Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte during a police event in Manila. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:00am, 15 Oct 2019Updated: 9:41pm, 15 Oct 2019

The top policeman in the Philippines stepped down because he no longer had the moral standing to lead the 190,000-strong force, critics said, describing General Oscar Albayalde’s departure as a soft exit.

Among them was Baguio City mayor and former senior policeman Benjamin Magalong, one of three whistle-blowers who implicated Albayalde in a 2013 operation that saw officers seize crystal meth from a lab run by a Chinese national and then sell the bulk of it, estimated to be about 648 million pesos (US$12.5 million).

“He has no choice. [Philippine National Police] officers and rank and file inside [the national police headquarters] are avoiding and evading him. How can you lead when your subordinates do not trust you? In essence, he lost the moral high ground to lead,” said Magalong, who was formerly chief of the PNP’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Albayalde was appointed to the post by President Rodrigo Duterte last year and was supposed to retire on November 8 when he turns 56, the official retirement age for senior public servants. Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Albayalde would get his full retirement benefits.

Oscar Albayalde at his appointment ceremony in April 2018. Photo: AP

Albayalde did not use the word “resign” although calls for him to do so had mounted after ongoing senate hearings linked him to “ninja cops” – policemen who made millions from selling drugs they had confiscated. This struck at the heart of Duterte’s war on drugs that critics say has resulted in the brutal deaths of alleged users and dealers for the past three years but has also left the wealthy and powerful alone.

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