By Hannah Torregoza Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said on Sunday it is up to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde to decide whether he would resign from his position or not. Sen. Panfilo Lacson (Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO /  MANILA BULLETIN) Lacson said it is a personal decision on the part of the embattled PNP chief to resign on account of his alleged move to intervene in the dismissal of the 13 cops involved in the recycling of confiscated illegal drugs in Mexico, Pampanga in 2013. “Ang resignation, personal decision yan. Hindi dapat pakialaman ng kung sino. Ang nangyayari kasi kapag may ganyang kontrobersya, eventually nagre-resign din pero alam natin kaya nag-resign, pinag sabihan ng appointing authority, in this case ang Presidente ng Pilipinas. Sa halip na sibakin kita, mag-resign ka na lang (Resignation is a personal decision. No one should meddle with that. What happens in controversies like this, they eventually resign, but we all know the reason they resign is because they were advised by the appointing authority, in this case the President of the country. Instead of sacking you, you should just resign),” Lacson said in a radio DZBB interview. “Pero ang voluntary resignation, personal decision yan. Doon ka magre-refer sa konsensya mo kung nararapat ba. Ikaw nakakalam kung nararapat bang mag-resign ka or hindi (But a voluntary resignation is a personal decision. You will refer to your conscience on whether or not you believe you should resign or not),” Lacson said. Lacson also rejected insinuations that he and former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief and now incumbent Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong is backing someone to succeed Albayalde as the PNP chief. The former PNP chief said he has never meddled in the selection process of the PNP leadership. He also said it is unlikely that Magalong still has time to join in that kind of discussion. “Wala akong kilala sa mga ano ngayon. Wala akong nakasama riyan na directly nagtrabaho under me. At ni minsan hindi ako nakialam sa appointment ng Chief PNP especially sa ilalim ng pamumuno ni Presidents (Benigno) Aquino and (Rodrigo ) Duterte. Wala, never,” he stressed. He also denied having had anything to do with then former PNP chief and now incumbent Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s appointment as PNP’s top cop. “Si Gen.Bato naging tao ko pero talagang choice yan ni PRRD (Duterte’s initials) na siya maging PNP Chief under his term. Pero wala akong pakialam. At hindi ko rin malaman kung sino itutulak ni Gen. Magalong kasi ano mapapala niya,eh mayor na siya ng Baguio (city), ang dami ring problema doon,” Lacson pointed out. It was Magalong who disclosed the information on Albayalde’s purported role in the 2013 drug buy bust in Mexico, Pampanga where 13 cops faced dismissal and criminal charges for recycling the shabu they seized in the crime scene, during an executive session at the Senate’s hearing on the alleged existence of “ninja cops.” Albayalde purportedly called up Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Aaron Aquino, who was then a PNP regional director and asked him not to implement the dismissal order against the 13 cops led by P/Major Rodney Baloyo. The PNP chief has repeatedly denied this and said that he is a victim of politics within the PNP. But Lacson said it is impossible to point to Magalong as the one politicking against Albayalde since the former CIDG chief was only invited by the Senate blue ribbon committee to shed light on the issue of the drug trade inside the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) during the Senate hearings.