MANILA – The issue on the nine ranking police officials allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade has already been addressed, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said Tuesday.
In a phone interview with the Philippine News Agency, Año said these officials are already out of the service with some facing criminal charges in court.
“Matagal na natin na-address yan yung PNP generals, wala na sa serbisyo lahat yun. Yung iba may mga kaso pang hinaharap (The Philippine National Police has long addressed the issue of police generals involved in the illegal drugs trade, all of them are out of the service, and some are even facing charges at court),” he added.
The DILG chief added that these police officials were dismissed from the service as early as 2016 and investigated for their drug connections.
Año also said administrative and criminal charges have been filed against some local government officials for their alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.
“Yan ang pagkakaiba, kung noong araw ang natatakot ang tao sa drug lords saka mga politicians na may koneksyon sa drug lord, ngayon baligtad. Sila na yung tinutugis natin at sila yung natatakot at nagtatago (The situation is different now. In the past, people are scared of drug lords and politicians connected to drug lords. It’s the other way around now as they are ones who are scared and are hiding from us),” he added.
In his final State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday admitted that he was upset upon learning that many government officials were involved in the illegal drug trade, including nine police generals.
Asked on Duterte’s remarks about a police official allegedly behind the importation of the high-powered Russian-made AK-47 automatic rifles in the country, Año said he and his civilian accomplice have already been investigated by the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice.
“May isang civilian na involved diyan, si Mr. Isidro Lozada. Ito yung sinasabi na may ari ng security agency na bumili ng 1,000 AK-47. Yung binabanggit naman niya, si ex-Police Lt. Col. Eduardo Acierto (There was a civilian involved in that case, a certain Mr. Isidro Lozada, he was the alleged owner of the security agency that brought 1,000 units of AK-47s. The police official whom he mentioned is former Lt. Col. Eduardo Acierto),” he added. (PNA)
Source: Philippines News Agency