Former Philippine National Police chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde (PNA file photo)
MANILA -- General Oscar Albayalde resigned as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) because he is tired of hearing "false and unfair" accusations about his involvement in illegal drugs, Malacañang said on Monday.
“Well, that’s his call. I can only speculate that perhaps he had enough of the innuendo and the accusation he feels were false and unfair,” Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in an interview over CNN.
“He said that his family was suffering, so he made that call,” he added.
Asked if there was pressure from the Palace, which prompted Albayalde to resign, Panelo said: “None that I know of.”
Panelo said he would soon be meeting President Rodrigo Duterte to ask his reaction to Albayalde’s resignation.
The Palace official said that the Senate could recommend the filing of charges against Albayalde if investigation results find probable cause or any commission of any transgression of a law.
Albayalde announced his decision to relinquish his post as PNP chief and go on non-duty status during Monday’s flag-raising ceremony in Camp Crame.
He is scheduled to tender his compulsory retirement on Nov. 8 when he turns 56. However, last week, he said he was leaving his post on Oct. 29.
He said Interior Secretary Eduardo Año has accepted his letter of intent to go on non-duty status and endorsed it to the President.
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac said that Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa will serve as officer-in-charge.
In November 2013, Albayalde, who was the provincial police director of Pampanga at that time, was accused of protecting his subordinates who pilfered shabu (crystal meth) in a raid.
In a Senate hearing, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief and now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong claimed Albayalde deferred the dismissal order against his subordinates.
Meanwhile, former CIDG deputy director, Col. Rudy Lacadin, claimed Albayalde admitted receiving money from the reselling of drugs but “only a little.”
Albayade denied these allegations claiming other police generals were ganging up on him and vowed to file charges against them
He claimed he was not among those charged and that the cases were dismissed in 2017 for “insufficiency of evidence”. (PNA)
