House of Representatives (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

High-ranking Philippine National Police (PNP) officials are set to attend the House’s Committee on Dangerous Drugs' hearing Wednesday, April 26 on the controversial Oct. 8, 2022 drug bust in Tondo, Manila that had the fingerprints of alleged "ninja cops" all over it.

Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, panel chairman, released on Tuesday, April 24 the list of PNP members invited to the hearing, which is a continuation of its probe on the Manila during incident.

They were Police Lt. Gen. Benjamin Santos Jr. who was then Deputy Chief PNP for Operations; Brig. Gen. Narciso Domingo, director of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG); Col. Julian Olonan, chief of PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) Special Operations Unit (SOU) Region 4A; and Capt. Jonathan Sosongco, head of the PDEG SOU 4A arresting team.

Also invited were Lt. Col. Arnulfo Ibañez, officer in charge (OIC) of PDEG SOU National Capital Region (NCR); Maj. Michael Angelo Salmingo, deputy of PDEG SOU NCR; Lt. Col. Glenn Gonzales of Quezon City Police District; Lt. Ashrap Amerol, intelligence officer of PDEG Intelligence and Foreign Liaison Division; Lt. Col. Harry Lorenzo, Manila Police District Moriones Station Commander; and Captain Randolph Piñon, chief of PDEG SOU 4A Intelligence Section.

Most of these personalities were seen in the video footage captured at the crime scene--the WPD Lending office located along A. Bonifacio St., Tondo, Manila on Oct. 8, 2022.

Barbers said the other resource persons invited to the hearing were Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos; Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Crispin Remulla; Maj. Gen. Benjamin Acorda, chief, Philippine National Police; Ret. P/Gen. Virgilio Lazo, head of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA); former PDEA chief Wilkins Villanueva; former PDEA NCR Director Alvin Alvarin; Commissioner Bienvenido Rubio of the Bureau of Customs (BOC), Admiral Artemio Abu, chief of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG); National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Medardo De Lemos; and former sergeant Rodolfo Mayo, Jr., owner of the WPD Lending office where the 990 kilos of shabu were seized.

Barbers said that since the incident, the public has not been apprised clearly on what had transpired in the PNP’s internal investigations on the drug bust, including the officers charged in court for their alleged attempts to recycle 42 kilos of shabu and the ensuing cover-up.

A ninja cop is a police officer involved in the illegal drug trade, particularly on the recycling or reselling of seized drugs from a police operation.

“As far as we know, only dismissed P/MSgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr. had been charged in court. We have not heard or seen any details of his administrative and criminal cases. What about the other officers who we believe participated in the alleged double cover-up and double recycling attempts in said incident?” Barbers asked.

“And based on documents, police reports, video footages and TV interviews by police officers involved in the case, we have noticed irreconcilable inconsistencies on their narrative of the incident, particularly the narrative that Sgt. Mayo was arrested in a buy-bust operation at 9 p.m. of Oct. 8, 2022 for possession of two kilos of shabu,” he added.

Barbers said the ongoing PNP investigations on the case is also deafeningly silent on Mayo’s stockpile of more than 990 kilos of shabu.

“It is very important and very urgent for the police agency to find out the surrounding circumstances behind this particular drug recycling activity," he added.