MANILA – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin Jr. has approved the dismissal from the service of the police sergeant who was arrested in an operation that yielded PHP6.7 billion worth of shabu in Manila in October last year.
PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo confirmed on Tuesday that Azurin approved on March 6 the dismissal of Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr., a member of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) based on the recommendation of the Internal Affairs Service after he was found guilty of grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer.
“The dismissal order of Sgt. Mayo is now for implementation after it was signed by the Chief PNP. He will receive nothing. All of his privileges as police are gone. His retirement benefits are all forfeited,” Fajardo told reporters in a press briefing held at Camp Crame.
Fajardo also expressed hope that Mayo's case is a wake-up call to every police officer that the PNP leadership will not tolerate misfits among the ranks.
She also added that there is a need to follow the due process in the investigation of the case to ensure that Mayo would not get a reinstatement into the service.
Mayo is currently detained in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City over his criminal case for violation of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
"He is still in jail while his trial is ongoing in the criminal case for violation of Republic Act 9165, he will remain in the custody of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology,” she added.
Mayo was arrested during a drug buy-bust operation in Quiapo, Manila on Oct. 9, 2022. He was then a member of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group's Special Operations Unit in the National Capital Region.
The operation stemmed from the arrest of a drug suspect identified as Ney Saligumba Atadero during a buy-bust operation in Tondo Manila on Oct. 8.
Recovered from Atadero were over 990 kilograms of shabu with an estimated value of PHP6.7 billion.
Mayo’s arrest prompted an investigation which Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. said exposed the involvement of some high-ranking police officials to the illegal drugs trade.
This prompted Abalos, with the approval of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., to call for the courtesy resignation of all police colonels and generals to weed out scalawags from the police force.
Last March 14, Azurin said the five-member advisory group of the police force has assessed half of 955 police generals and colonels to cleanse the ranks of those involved in illegal drug activities.
Aside from Azurin, other members of advisory group were retired police general and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong, Office of the Presidential Adviser on Military Affairs Undersecretary Isagani Nerez, former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and retired Court of Appeals Justice Melchor Sadang.
The move aims to cleanse the ranks of officers in the police organization from possible influence or connivance with drug syndicates. (PNA)
