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Philippines top drug fighter, Gen. Oscar Albayalde, who oversaw the extra-judicial killing of thousands while implementing president Duterte’s brutal anti-drug campaign, resigns after 13 of his officers were exposed as dealers

&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpcnt">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"wpa">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<span class&equals;"wpa-about">Advertisements<&sol;span>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<div class&equals;"u top&lowbar;amp">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<amp-ad width&equals;"300" height&equals;"265"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; type&equals;"pubmine"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-siteid&equals;"109460728"&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab; data-section&equals;"1">&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;amp-ad>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&Tab;&Tab;<&sol;div><h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>The former head of the Philippines national police force is facing a criminal complaint in relation to the alleged resale of confiscated drugs<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>Gen&period; Oscar Albayalde stepped down last Monday amid drug allegations<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>President Rodrigo Duterte&&num;8217&semi;s drug war chief who oversaw the extra-judicial killing of thousands resigned after 13 of his officers were exposed as dealers<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>Today a criminal complaint was filed against him and 13 of his officers for a controversial 2013 drug bust when Albayalde was the acting police chief of Pampanga region <&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>The improperly constituted team allegedly were bribed by a targeted drug lord to arrest his rival&comma; instead<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>Furthermore a large methamphetamine haul by police raiding team was under reported and &&num;8216&semi;sold off&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>Whistleblowers allege then regional police chief&comma; Oscar Albayalde&comma; benefited from the proceeds and later participated in a coverup operation<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>Gen&period; Albayalde has denied improper conduct&comma; demanding due process to &&num;8216&semi;clear is name&&num;8217&semi;<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<h6><span style&equals;"color&colon; &num;423434&semi;"><strong>Critics point out that thousands of victims of Duterte&&num;8217&semi;s drug war were not afforded  that due process&comma; on his watch<&sol;strong><&sol;span><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mol-img">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"image-wrap fff-pic">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"overlay-icon mobile-gallery">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mobile-gallery-icon"><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone wp-image-333320" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;10&sol;Oscar-Albayalde-3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Oscar Albayalde 3&period;JPG" width&equals;"694" height&equals;"528" &sol;>General Oscar Albayalde stepped down last Monday amid allegations he was protecting police officers involved in trading illegal drugs&period; The former head of the Philippines national police force is facing a criminal complaint in relation to the alleged resale of confiscated drugs<&sol;span><&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<div><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;">The Philippines&&num;8217&semi; top policeman who led the nation&&num;8217&semi;s deadly drugs crackdown is now facing charges related to the selling of confiscated narcotics&comma; a week after he resigned from the post&period;<&sol;span><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">General Oscar Albayalde stepped down last Monday amid the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;rappler&period;com&sol;newsbreak&sol;iq&sol;241479-senate-hearing-bares-how-ninja-cops-remain-service" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">&&num;8220&semi;ninja cops&&num;8221&semi; controversy<&sol;a>&comma; which alleges he was protecting police officers involved in trading illegal drugs&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Philippine National Police chief General Oscar Albayalde it is alleged&comma; was involved in what seemed to be a &&num;8220&semi;grand cover-up&&num;8221&semi;  to protect his underlings from dismissal from service over a 2013 case&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;During his time in the role&comma; Albayalde led President Rodrigo Duterte&&num;8217&semi;s war on drugs which has resulted in the deaths of thousands in controversial circumstances&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Duterte&&num;8217&semi;s signature anti-narcotics campaign is key to his massive popularity among Filipinos&period; As part of his internationally condemned initiative&comma; police have killed thousands of alleged dealers and users since mid-2016&comma; but critics say the wealthy and powerful have been largely untouched&period; Albayalde has denied the charges that he helped officers who were trading the confiscated drugs&period; <span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;">He said he welcomed the investigation so he could be given &&num;8216&semi;due process&&num;8217&semi; into the 2013 incident&comma; a right which c<&sol;span>ritics say many of the victims of the drug killings were never afforded by Duterte&&num;8217&semi;s regime&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mol-para-with-font"><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-333318" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;10&sol;Oscar-Albayalde-left-and-Rodrigo-Duterte-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Oscar Albayalde &lbrack;left&rsqb;&comma; and Rodrigo Duterte 1&period;JPG" width&equals;"693" height&equals;"448" &sol;>Gen&period; Oscar Albayalde seen &lbrack;left&rsqb;&comma; with Rodrigo Duterte&comma; led the president&&num;8217&semi;s war on drugs which has resulted in the deaths of thousands in controversial circumstances<&sol;span><&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">The police complaint stemmed from Albayalde&&num;8217&semi;s role as commander of police unit near Manila in 2013 where officers under his supervision allegedly seized and sold a huge haul of narcotics and received bribes to release a drug suspect&period; He was accused by a former police official of intervening to protect his officers from sanctions&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;It is alleged that on November 29&comma; 2013&comma; when Albayalde was the acting police chief of Pampanga&period; a dozen police officers from Pampanga conducted a buy-bust operation in Mexico&comma; Pampanga which led to the recovery of 36&period;68 kilos of metamphetamine hydrochloride &lbrack;shabu&rsqb; and a P100&comma;000 marked money&period; The team headed by ex-Pampanga anti-illegal drug operations task group chief Joven de Guzman Jr&comma; were supposed to go after the Chinese drug lord Johnson Lee&comma; The team conducts a buy-bust operation leading to the arrest of a drug suspect named Johnson Lee&period; The team were bribed by principal target Johnson Lee with &dollar;9&period;8million &lbrack;P50 million&rsqb;&comma; to let him go and instead arrest a fall guy identified as Ding Wenkun&comma; another suspected drug dealer&comma; a tribunal investigating the case later heard in testimony&period; The team allegedly also  seized 200 kilograms of the drug shabu&comma; but only declared the seizure of 38 kg&period; The police team also failed to include agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency &lbrack;PDEA&rsqb; agent and a barangay official in the operation&period; Subsequently members of the 13 man team were charged for violating Section 27 of the Dangerous Drugs Act&comma; or mishandling of drug-related evidence&period; They faced  life imprisonment and a fine between &dollar;9&comma;800 &lbrack;P500&comma;000&rsqb;&comma; and &dollar;195&comma;000 &lbrack;P10 million&rsqb;&comma; if convicted&period; <span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;">The 13 officers were charged in May 2014&comma; while <&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;">Albayalde was sacked from his post by then-Central Luzon police chief Brigadier General Raul Petrasanta in line with &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;command responsibility&period;” <&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;"> The Chief stated that <&sol;span><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;&lbrack;the debacle was&rsqb; due to &lbrack;Albayalde’s&rsqb; failure to take corrective action at his level despite the chance given to him to do so”&period; In May 2016&comma; the case concluded with the team finally receiving their dismissal order&comma; but t<&sol;span>hey are given 12 days to contest the decision of the regional and national headquarters&period; At this point then Brigadier General Aaron Aquino replaced retiring Brigadier General Rudy Lacadin as Central Luzon police chief&period; However in July 2016&comma; Oscar Albayalde was appointed chief of the National Capital Region Police Office&period; Shortly after&comma; in late 2016&comma; Albayalde called Aquino to ask about the case of the 13 policemen the latter testified at an October 1 hearing on the case&period; He told me&comma; &&num;8220&semi;Sir&comma; for the meantime&comma; maybe you can have that reviewed&comma; because I want to know what will happen to the result of that investigation&period; Because&comma; Sir&comma; those are my people&&num;8221&semi; Aquino told the tribunal&period; Former police chief Albayalde admitted to the tribunal that the call indeed happened&comma; but denied trying to influence Aquino&colon; &&num;8220&semi;Yes&comma; I asked for the status – only the status&period; I could not possibly influence an RD or an upperclass…It&&num;8217&semi;s normal but never in one time did I ask for any favor&period; I was asking for the status&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"artSplitter mol-img-group">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mol-img">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"image-wrap fff-pic">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"overlay-icon mobile-gallery">&NewLine;<h6 class&equals;"mobile-gallery-icon"><strong><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;"><img class&equals;"alignnone size-full wp-image-333316" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;konniemoments&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2019&sol;10&sol;Oscar-Albayalde-1&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Oscar Albayalde 1" width&equals;"697" height&equals;"509" &sol;>Albayalde is demanding due process and his day in court&comma; which critics say was not granted the thousands who are victims of Rodrigo Duterte&&num;8217&semi;s war on drugs <&sol;span><&sol;strong><&sol;h6>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mobile-gallery-icon"><span style&equals;"color&colon; var&lpar;--color-text&rpar;&semi;">Another retired official has alleged Albayalde received money from the sale of the drugs confiscated in the controversial raid&period;<&sol;span><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p class&equals;"mol-para-with-font">The criminal charges against the officers allegedly involved in the matter were dismissed in 2017&comma; however&comma; prosecutors have now re-opened the case and summoned the men for questioning&period; A Senate inquiry this month recommended that Albayalde and 13 officers under his command face various charges related to the incident&period; The criminal complaint was filed today by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group &lpar;PNP-CIDG&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Department of Justice will now decide whether to prosecute the 14&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;This comes as the national police announced Monday it has dismissed three Philippine National Police &lpar;PNP&rpar; officers involved in another controversial drug raid this year&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;We admit that the recent controversy involving the PNP has shaken the institution at its core&comma;&&num;8217&semi; acting police chief Archie Gamboa said in a statement&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;He announced changes to key leadership positions and put promotions on hold&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;&&num;8216&semi;Each one will strictly be held accountable for what his or her unit does or fails to do&comma;&&num;8217&semi; he said&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Serving in his role since 2018&comma; Gen Albayalde was the second national police chief to enforce the government&&num;8217&semi;s controversial crackdown on drugs&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;President Rodrigo Duterte launched the anti-narcotics campaign in 2016&comma; to deal with a rampant drug problem in the country&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;Human rights groups allege many of the killings in the operations are summary executions&comma; carried out without giving the suspects a chance to defend themselves in a court of law&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"inread&lowbar;player" class&equals;"adHolder" data-adverts-ad&equals;"&lbrace;" data-google-query-id&equals;"CMedran9r-UCFc4dhwodD30ARQ">&NewLine;<div id&equals;"&lowbar;cm-css-reset" class&equals;"&lowbar;cm-single-inline">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"&lowbar;cm-inline-video">&NewLine;<div id&equals;"&lowbar;cm-css-reset">&NewLine;<div id&equals;"&lowbar;cm-css-reset" class&equals;"&lowbar;cm-video-ad vpaid-player-container">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"video&lowbar;controls show">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"video&lowbar;controls video&lowbar;controls&lowbar;main&lowbar;area">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"cm&lowbar;video&lowbar;controls&lowbar;progressbar&lowbar;area">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"cm&lowbar;video&lowbar;controls&lowbar;progressbar&lowbar;bg white&lowbar;bg"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"cm&lowbar;video&lowbar;controls&lowbar;progressbar blue&lowbar;bg "><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"cm&lowbar;video&lowbar;controls&lowbar;playpause interactive show">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"pause show"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"1&lowbar;&lowbar;cm-css-reset" class&equals;"&lowbar;cm-video-ad vpaid-player-container vpaid-handler"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"&lowbar;cm-close-area" class&equals;"&lowbar;cm-close-area"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"&lowbar;cm-css-reset" class&equals;"&lowbar;cm-volume-area &lowbar;cm-volume-area-bottom">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"&lowbar;cm-volume-border">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"&lowbar;cm-volume-text"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;

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