(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted Oscar Albayalde’s decision to step down from his post as Philippine National Police chief, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said.
Lt. Gen. Archie Gamboa, PNP deputy chief for administration, will automatically serve as PNP chief until President Duterte appoints a new police official at the helm of the police organization.
Albayalde’s move came days before he was scheduled to retire on Nov. 8.
This was following Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency chief Aaron Aquino’s allegations he had intervened in the cases filed against 13 policemen behind a 2013 raid in Pampanga which the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group found to have been irregular, and following retired brigadier general Rudy Lacadin’s allegations Albayalde called him upon learning he was probing the raid and said “onti lang naman napunta sa akin diyan.”
Albayalde has admitted calling Aquino, then the Central Luzon police director, but said he never influenced him into doing anything.
He questioned Lacadin’s timing of hurling the allegations against him.
President Duterte has said he would defer from taking action on the ninja cops issue and on Albayalde pending the results of a Senate probe.
Senator Richard Gordon, justice and human rights chair, said over the weekend though that the joint Senate panel probing the issue would recommend the filing of charges against Albayalde. With a report from Mar Gabriel
