RELIEVED, REPLACED. Talisay City policemen (foreground) quietly gather after the city police’s 65-man uniformed force was ordered relieved by Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) Director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas and watch in silence as the members of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (background) prepare to take over their vacated posts on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018. Sinas’ relief order came after President Rodrigo Duterte declared that most of the city’s police officers were involved in the illegal drug trade. /CDN File Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, the director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), assured on Thursday, September 26, that “ninja cops” are not rampant in Central Visayas following their continuous internal cleansing programs in the region.
Sinas said that ninja cops are policemen who recycle seized illegal drugs during operations, and sell them again to consumers, as they manage to by-pass the inventory procedures.
Sinas said PRO-7 is not exempt from the presence of ninja cops. However, he said, there are not too many of them to affect the police’s overall performance in the campaign against illegal drugs in Central Visayas.
Recently, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) has revealed that there are at least 53 active “ninja cops’ in the country.
The Senate has demanded that the names of these ninja cops be made public, But the Philippine National Police (PNP) has requested the Senate to “practice diligence in protecting the rights of these persons against undue persecution.”
Read more: PDEA chief tags 53 active ‘ninja cops’
For Central Visayas, Sinas said there have been reports involving some “questionable cops” assigned to certain areas in the region but these are immediately subjected to drug testing to determine if they were using drugs.
If the cop proved positive of drug use, the police officer was immediately subjected to suspension, investigation, and even dismissal if warranted.
As of now, Sinas has ordered strict monitoring of the cops in Central Visayas that had records linking them to the illegal drug trades.
Most of them have been reassigned to the other stations, as once a report on drug involvement was received, the concerned police officer would usually be transferred to another station.
“Ig balhin sa pulis, usually mawala ang report. If pagbalhin gani naa gihapon ang report, didto nami matingala. (If the police is reassigned, the reports of drug links usually disappeared. If the report of alleged drug links would persist even after the reassignment, that’s when we get suspicious.) There is now a basis to investigate further,” said Sinas.
Sinas said one way to ensure that seized drugs would not be recycled is to ensure the presence of local authorities, such as barangay officials, during anti-illegal drug operations or drug busts; and for the police do conduct joint operations with partner drug enforcement units, such as the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency..
Furthermore, the inventory of all confiscated materials should be conducted in an open area in the presence of a local authority or partner agency.
This way, no policeman can attempt to steal any of the drugs confiscated during the operations.
Sinas could not give the exact number of policemen in PRO-7 suspected to be ninja cops, but he assured that they have been investigated, reassigned, and some of them even suspended.
He also said that PRO-7 wants a copy of PDEA’s list of ninja cops so they can monitor erring policemen assigned in Central Visayas. /elb