Three rogue cops axed

Chief drugbuster Deputy Director General Edgar Aglipay ordered yesterday the dismissal from police service of two police officials and an enlisted man for their alleged involvement in drug pushing and robbery-extortion cases.

Aglipay said the dismissal of Chief Inspector Carlito Canlas, Inspector Hoover Pascual and SPO2 Ludem de los Santos was in consonance with the directive of Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina to rid the ranks of anti-drug units of rogue cops.

"We are dead serious in efforts to cleanse our ranks. The dismissal of the three policemen should serve as a stern warning to our personnel to shape up," Aglipay told The STAR.

Aglipay heads the police Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Force (AID-SOT Force).

Canlas, head of the AID-SOT Force of the Station 8 of the Western Police District (WPD), was arrested April 5 by the men of Senior Superintendent Nilo de la Cruz, head of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), for demanding P50,000 from relatives of a suspected drug pusher in exchange for making the charges against him bailable.

De la Cruz said Canlas’ was arrested inside his office after receiving marked money. Canlas’ arrest was captured on tape by the Imbestigador TV program. De los Santos, of the Central Police District (CPD), was arrested last moth by PAOCC operatives during a buy-bust operation. He yielded 15 grams of shabu, De la Cruz said.

Pascual was arrested last Monday after receiving P40,000 marked money during an entrapment operation arranged by Chief Superintendent Oscar Valenzuela, director of the Eastern Police District (EPD).

Valenzuela said Pascual demanded the money in exchange for the release of the Nissan Cefiro which the suspects confiscated from three men they arrested in Pasig City April 15.

Aside from being dismissed from the police service, Canlas, De los Santos and Pascual will face criminal charges, Aglipay noted.

In a command conference yesterday, Aglipay emphasized the need to prioritize the campaign against rogue cops, especially those involved in frame-ups and planting of evidence.

"Our campaign against rogue cops is a continuing process," Aglipay said. "We may be accomplishing a lot in the drive against illegal drugs, but our achievements are being pulled down by the illegal activities of these scalawags in uniform."

He admitted that his command was able to stop 50 percent of the drug supply in the country since operations began in June. A total of 19 drug laboratories were dismantled and some P22 billion worth of drugs, raw materials and equipment have been confiscated.