Camp Alagar unfazed by ‘ninja cops’ controversy

By JIGGER J. JERUSALEM
andJOEY NACALABAN
Correspondents

CAMP Alagar said police officers in the city and elsewhere in northern Mindanao remained unfazed by fresh corruption allegations hounding the National Police leadership, and they would continue law enforcement operations here without letup.

Lt. Col. Mardy Hortillosa, Camp Alagar spokesman, said that while the police here were slightly dismayed over allegations about “ninja cops” and accusations made against National Police Director General Oscar Albayalde, the police in northern Mindanao “will remain steadfast in serving the people and never be affected by the issue since it [does] not represent the whole organization.”

Hortillosa said the “ninja cops” controversy affects only a “few PNP personnel.”

Last week, Baguio Mayor Benjamin Magalong, a former chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), accused Albayalde of protecting so-called “ninja cops” who bungled a 2013 police operation in Pampanga by allegedly recycling shabu they confiscated and who let a Chinese drug lord getaway.

Hortillosa said Magalong’s revelations were mere allegations, and the police always base their decisions and actions on facts rather than on mere allegations.

He said the respect and trust of the police in the region towards Albayalde were still intact.

“Pero lain na ngestorya kung ma-sanction si Albayalde ug mamatud-an nga sal-an siya sa maong alegasyon. Seguro mao nanang panahona mawala among respeto saiyaha,” said Hortillosa.

He said Brig. Gen. Rafael Santiago Jr., police director for Region 10, told his subordinates to keep calm and not allow themselves to be affected by the controversy now hounding the National Police leadership.

He said Santiago also urged the police throughout the region to “continue serving the people and not be moved.”

Hortillosa claimed the morale of police officers in the region was “still high,” and “the regional office will not stop the public safety services give the people the better peace and order they deserve.”

He also appealed to the public not to jump to conclusions and make judgments based on what has been taking place during the Senate committee hearings “but wait [for] the final conviction by a competent court to prevent the premature statement that will affect the trust and confidence of the people towards the police.”

But Maj. Evan Viñas, city police spokesman, said it was “normal” for the rank and file in the National Police to feel “low” after Albayalde’s name was dragged into the “ninja cops” controversy, “but it will not affect our daily routine in dispensing public services.”

“We’re told by our superior officers not to be onion-skinned in the ongoing Senate inquiry wherein [Albayalde] was implicated in the issue. We are steadfast in doing our primary task as law enforcers,” Viñas said.

Lt. Col. SurkiSereñas, a former Camp Alagar spokesman who now serves as the police chief of Valencia City in Bukidnon, said: “I do not think the morale of the entire PNP is affected.”

“The PNP has reached that organizational maturity where personal issues are detached from the entire organization. It may have affected community perception but the trust and confidence are intact, otherwise, we won’t be seeing people seeking police assistance to the PNP,” Sereñas said. “The PNP has kept its mandate and is still considered the last bastion of peace.”