SEN. Ronald dela Rosa yesterday wrapped up the hearings on the alleged cover-up in the 990 kilos of shabu worth P6.7 billion seized from dismissed M/Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr. in an operation in Manila last October but senators failed to squeeze information as to its source.
During the fourth hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, the policemen involved in the operation continued to deny that they used an informant in the operation against Mayo, saying they only got information based on the case buildup.
Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada asked the five cops earlier cited in contempt — M/Sgt. Carlo Bayeta and Patrolmen Hustin Gular, Rommar Bugarin, Hassan Kalaw, and Dennis Carolino — if they know the informant in the operation against Mayo but all of them replied in the negative.
The five cops, however, admitted the information on Mayo was provided by an informant.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo asked the cops if they bothered to investigate the source of the illegal drugs seized from Mayo, but all of them pointed to Capt. Jonathan Sosongco, head of the PNP PDEG’s special operations unit.
Sosongco likewise said he has no information on the source of the shabu and claimed the five cops were not involved in the actual arrest of Mayo, contrary to what he said in past hearings.
Dela Rosa butted in, saying Sosongco was earlier cited in contempt for lying during committee hearings.
In past hearings, witnesses said Lt. Col. Glenn Gonzales, formerly assigned with the PDEG but now detailed with the Quezon City Police District, went to the money lending firm where the shabu was discovered to ask then PDEG chief Brig. Gen. Narcisco Domingo to give the reward money to the informant, who was allegedly his man.
Dela Rosa said identifying the informant was vital to trace the source of the 990 kilos of shabu.
“There is another way to get (an) answer for this through the informant. He (informant) knows something but up to now there is no informant who is being identified because they (cops involved) are giving us the runaround,” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa said he received unverified information that a certain Mike Sy, a Chinese, was the source of the 990 kilos of shabu and can also identify policemen involved in illegal drug activities.
Dela Rosa said a “handler” of Sy approached him and said that the Chinese was willing to attend the committee hearing apparently to clear his name since he is currently tagged as the No. 1 shabu trafficker. But Sy backed off after he was informed that another of his “handler” warned him not to attend the panel
Dela Rosa said Sy was staying either in the “general areas” of Cavite or near the Sablayan Penal Colony in Occidental Mindoro where he serves as the “keeper” of shabu belonging to jailed Chinese drug lords.
Dela Rosa said he suspects that Lt. Col. Arnulfo Ibanez, a team leader of PDEG, was also a handler of Sy. Ibanez denied this.
“Ibanez is not the only one handling Sy. Go ahead, believe in your handler who will eventually kill you so that the trail will stop… We will offer you security as long as you pinpoint your cohorts in the PNP,” Dela Rosa said.
“You (Sy) want to testify but was prevailed upon by your handler…The invitation for you is open. I can reopen the committee hearing even if I have adjourned it if you show up and tell who your cohorts in the PNP and PDEA are. I know you are monitoring this hearing,” he added.
Domingo, meanwhile, said it was the team of Sosongco that stole 42 kilos of shabu from the 990-kilo bust at the WPD Lending Company owned by Mayo.
Domingo said the actual volume of shabu confiscated was 1.032 tons.
Domingo said he was compelled to tell the “truth” during yesterday’s hearing after assuring Dela Rosa during the last hearing that he will divulge everything he knew of the operation.
He said he kept information during past hearings since he wanted to stick to his affidavit so the case against Mayo will not be dismissed.
Domingo said he learned of the pilferage five days after the October 8 operation since it took his men time to gather CCTV footage in the area.
Col. Roland Potrera, PDEG IFLD chief, said Sosongco, Senior Master Sgt. Jerrywin Rebosora, M/Sgt. Lorenzo Catarata, and four other cops who formed part of the team were later identified through the CCTV footage.
Domingo said there were procedural lapses in the operation — that the inventory of the two kilos of shabu initially seized from Mayo in Bambang, Sta. Cruz, Manila should have been done on-site, and that his men in PDEG secretly pilfered 42 kilos of shabu.
But he said if the proper inventory was made on-site, the 990 kilos of shabu would not have been discovered.
“Again, your honors, I trusted the people who were in PDEG because I really do not know that much. I am only two months in the post when this operation was conducted,” Domingo said, denying there was a cover-up in the operation.
“Mr. Chair, your honors, if there was really a cover-up like what other people are saying, I would not have reported the 990 kilos of shabu, and cases were not filed against Mayo and (Ney) Atadero (the alleged accomplice of Mayo). It is a fact that the arrested suspects, caretakers of this 1.032 tons of shabu were charged in court and up to this moment are in jail,” he said.
Domingo said if the committee really wants to determine who the members of the drug syndicate are in the PNP, they better ask Gonzales and Ibanez.
“We should look into who the boss(es) of Gonzales and Ibanez are,” he said.
