PNP exec in P6.7-B drug case says syndicate seeking revenge
PDEG Police Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo (left) and PDEG Special Operations Unit Region 4A chief Police Col. Julian Olonan hold a press conference at Camp Crame, Quezon City on April 11, 2023. 黑料社 file photo / Faith Argosino
MANILA, Philippines — Former Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PNP DEG) chief retired Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo claimed that a syndicate was behind the P6.7-billion drug case against them, urging Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla to reconsider.
Warrants of arrest are out for 29 police officers, including Domingo, for planting of evidence and delay, and bungling in the prosecution of a drug case, stemming from the allegedly staged arrest of Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo in Manila in October 2022.
In a video posted on his personal Facebook account on Friday evening, Domingo claimed that then-Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos and incumbent Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla were ill-informed in bringing the cases against them.
“It (referring to the operation) was supposedly God’s way para, once and for all, makilala natin yung mga drug lords sa bansa. Pero hindi na rin nangyari yun dahil six months after the operation ay nagpasabog si Secretary Benhur Abalos ng kabaligtaran na storya,” Domingo said.
(It was supposedly God’s way so that, once and for all, we’d know who the drug lords are in our country. But that didn’t happen because six months after the operation, Secretary Benhur Abalos gave an explosive story that was totally untrue.)
Article continues after this advertisement“Syempre, yung mga sindikato na yan ay gustong iligtas si Mayo at gustong iligtas yung mga sarili kaya gumawa ng istorya na pinaniwalaan nila (referring to Abalos and Remulla),” the former DEG chief added.
Article continues after this advertisement(Of course, the syndicate there wants to save Mayo and wants to save themselves so they made their own story that they believed.)
During his tenure as Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) chief, Abalos accused the police officers behind the operation of a “grand attempt” to cover up for Mayo.
“Grand attempt? Ilang minuto pa lang nung nahuli namin si Mayo, minessage ko agad yung bata niya, na nahuli namin si Mayo,” Domingo said.
(Grand attempt? A few minutes after we caught Mayo, I messaged his subordinate… that we caught Mayo.)
Further, the former DEG chief said closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of the incident – which “spoke for itself,” according to Abalos – was inadmissible in court because it was not extracted by an expert but by an intelligence officer on Domingo’s team.
Abalos dismissed Domingo’s claims, stressing that he only had the matter investigated by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Police Commission (Napolcom) and that the charges simply result from their findings.
READ: Abalos dismisses claim on P6.7-B drug case: ‘These are the findings’
Remulla replaced Abalos last October, when the latter resigned to run for a Senate seat in the elections this coming May.
Similarly, in a Malacañan press briefing last January, Remulla bared an alleged “grand conspiracy” to conceal crimes within the ranks of the PNP, in connection to the Mayo case. He later clarified that he meant only the officers involved in the incident.
READ: Remulla clarifies claim of PNP ‘conspiracy,’ says only 41 cops involved
“Ang hindi mo nakita, itong mga witnesses mo, sila Sergeant Mayo, Colonel Ibanez, Colonel Gonzales at Major Salmingo ay, wala pang PDEG, mga anti-drugs operatives na mga yan,” Domingo addressed Remulla.
(What you didn’t see, these witnesses of yours, Sergeant Mayo, Colonel Ibanez, Colonel Gonzales at Major Salmingo, PDEG hadn’t existed yet and they were already anti-drug operatives then.)
“Tapos ako ang paparatangan mo na kabago-bago, first time ko ma-assign ng isang anti-drug unit na PDEG?” Domingo added.
(And you accuse me, someone who’s new and is on his first time being assigned an anti-drug unit in PDEG?)
He added the drugs seized during the October 2022 operation were accumulated under the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“Kaya yung sinasabi mo na dahil sa reward system ay hinuli namin yan, hindi. Kung dahil sa reward system ng previous administration, dapat pinatay na namin yang si Mayo. Pero hindi, buhay na buhay hanggang ngayon,” Domingo said.
(That’s why, with what you said that we only pursued him because of the reward system, that’s not true. Because if we did follow the reward system of the previous administration, we should’ve killed Mayo. But no, he’s well and alive to this day.)
“Nandiyan ang Directorate for Intelligence ng PNP… PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency) at National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) para makilala mo kung ano talaga ang tunay na pagkatao nitong mga witnesses mo,” he added.
(There’s the Directorate for Intelligence of the PNP… the PDEA and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency so that you can get to know the real identities of your witnesses.)
This screengrab is from a video posted on the personal Facebook account of former Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PNP DEG) chief retired Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo posted on Friday, Jan. 31, claiming that a syndicate was behind the P6.7-billion drug case against them. (Screengrab from video by Narciso D. Domingo/Facebook)
Domingo also addressed National Police Commission (Napolcom) Vice Chairperson Ricardo Bernabe in the video.
The Napolcom has brought administrative cases against 41 officers involved in the case, with three cases subject to the decision of the Office of the President because they were presidential appointees.
READ: Admin case vs 12 cops tagged in ‘conspiracy’ dismissed – Napolcom
(You recommended that we be dismissed, us three presidential appointees? Two of them have already been dismissed since 2023. I’m the only one left. What class of an investigation is that?)
The former DEG chief then said Department of Justice (DOJ) chief Boying Remulla met with him with Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Assistant Director Lito Magno to ensure the case against Mayo was “airtight.”
He then addressed Fadullon, saying: “Para sa bayan lang tayo (We are for our nation). Karma is real.”
Fadullon confirmed he met with Domingo in late 2022 to hear out his account of the operation but noted inconsistencies in the latter’s story.
READ: Prosecutor throws back cop’s words in P6.7-B shabu bust: Karma is Real
‘Reconsider case’
The former DEG chief appealed to the government to reconsider the case.
Domingo addressed DILG chief Remulla, “Dito sa kinasuhan mo na 30 (including Mayo), baka wala sa kalahati diyan yung involved talaga.”
“Please review and rectify your filed cases. Buhay at pamilya ng mga pulis ang pinag-uusapan dito. Habang-buhay mo dadalhin ‘yan. Ang mga reklamong ito ay base lamang sa mga salaysay ng boss ni Mayo,” he added.
(Please review and rectify your filed cases. Lives and families of policemen are being talked about here. You’ll carry this for life. These complaints are based only on the narratives of Mayo’s boss.)
Domingo did not name whom he was pertaining to.
Further, he appealed to President Marcos, asking him to “bring back common sense and order over this brouhaha, over this miscarriage of justice.”
黑料社 also sought comments from PNP Public Information Office chief Col. Randulf Tuaño, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, incumbent DILG chief Remulla, and DOJ chief Remulla. They have yet to respond.
READ: 20 of 29 cops in mishandled P6.7 billion drug case now in police custody
Nine more officers have yet to be under police custody, according to Fajardo in a press briefing at Camp Crame last Monday.
“Sa mga pulis at sa NBI na magsisilbi sa mga warrant na iyan, maghunos-dili kayo dahil sa, nabanggit ko na kanina, diskarte ng mga tunay na mga kalaban natin yan para makaganti doon sa nalugi nilang seven billion sa amin na nakahuli at mailigtas yung bata na si Mayo at mga kasabwat ni Mayo,” Domingo said.
(To the police and NBI that will serve these warrants, contemplate your next moves because, like I said, this is a strategy by our real enemies so that they can get revenge for their seven-billion loss on us who seized it and save their subordinate, Mayo, and his cohorts.)
Mayo was initially arrested at around 1:00 p.m. on Oct. 8, 2022 along Bambang Street in Tondo for possessing two kilograms of shabu.
He was then brought to the WPD Lending Office with the arresting officers and, as seen on footage, escorted in and out of the location three times between 1:39 and 2:16 p.m.
At the Palace briefing with DILG chief Remulla, Bernabe said the theory was that Mayo was directed to open the vaults.
After more senior officials arrived at the scene, at 4:45 p.m., an anti-drug operation was declared, in which office caretaker Ney Atadero was arrested and the shabu was confiscated. However, Mayo was excluded from the declared operation.
At 7:50 p.m., Mayo left with officers to conduct a “follow-up operation in Pasig City,” but then-PNP Chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. ordered that Mayo be returned to WPD Lending Office.
The officers involved then staged a hot pursuit operation to arrest Mayo at Quiapo Bridge at 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 9 “in an attempt to address the irregularities in Sergeant Mayo’s earlier arrest and to cover up his subsequent release,” according to Bernabe.
