Philippine national police chief steps down amidst drug scandal

Hanoi (VNA) - Philippine national police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde resigned on October 14 after he faced allegations in a Senate hearing that he intervened to prevent his officers from being prosecuted for allegedly selling a huge amount of illegal drugs they had seized.

Albayalde said his decision was accepted by Secretary of the Interior and Local Government Eduardo Ano over the weekend but he insisted on his innocence. The police chief stressed that he has never been criminally or administratively charged for the alleged irregularity.

Albayalde, 55, stepped down just a few weeks before his scheduled retirement on November 8.

Albayalde once headed the police force in Pampanga province north of Manila when 13 of his officers seized a large amount of methamphetamine, a powerful and prohibited stimulant, in a raid. The officers later faced allegations that they presented a small volume of the seized drugs, then hid and sold the rest, with suspicions being fueled when they purchased pricey SUVs not long after.

However, he pointed out that state prosecutors cleared the officers of criminal complaints they had faced for the alleged offenses.

Albayalde said the allegations against him may have been an offshoot of jockeying for the top police post that he would vacate if he has stayed in his post until his retirement.

But two police officials testified in Senate hearings that Albayalde did not take adequate actions to have his men be criminally prosecuted.

One of the two officials, Aaron Aquino, who now heads the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, testified that Albayalde called him then to inquire about the status of the cases against his officers.

Albayalde acknowledged that as a result of the 2013 incident, he was transferred to a regional police force without being given any specific assignment or post. Several months after, however, he was appointed as metropolitan Manila police chief and as national police chief in April 2018./.