MANILA – The Philippine National Police (PNP) denied reports that its chief, General Oscar Albayalde is planning to resign after his name was dragged into the alleged recycling of seized illegal drugs.
PNP spokesperson Brigadier General Bernard Banac said in a press statement on Thursday that the supposed resignation of Albayalde, who is set to retire this Nov. 8, was a “false report.”
“The PNP dispels the rumor circulating in social media that the PNP chief, Police General Oscar Albayalde has resigned from his post,” Banac said. “The PNP chief’s fate is up to the President (Rodrigo Duterte).”
Banac also said that Albayalde belied the allegations of former Central Luzon regional police chief Rudy Lacadin, who said on Wednesday that Albayalde told him that he received a small portion from the recycled drugs in a raid in Pampanga in 2013.
“The PNP chief vehemently denies calling Colonel Lacadin, who was then the deputy of General Magalong in CIDG, about the investigation into the Pampanga drug raid,” Banac said.
“Lacadin has a lot of explaining to do and he will have his day in court,” he added. “All those police officials ganging up on him have ill motives against him and obviously all worked with the previous administration.”
Albayalde was accused by former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) head Benjamin Magalong of intervening in the case of the his former men at the Pampanga police office – who allegedly made off with millions worth of shabu seized in a November 2013 raid in Mexico town, Pampanga.
Albayalde was chief of Pampanga police when a team of police officers allegedly made money from 160 kilograms of shabu worth around P648 million following an anti-drug operation on an alleged Chinese drug lord.
Albayalde asked to stop the implementation of the dismissal order against 13 so called “ninja cops” who conducted an anti-drug operation in Pampanga that was allegedly riddled with irregularities./PN
