By Argyll Cyrus Geducos

President Duterte has expressed disappointment with the Philippine National Police (PNP) over the involvement of some police officers in the illegal drug trade, Malacañang confirmed.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo made the statement following Duterte’s command conference with the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Tuesday evening.

In his Thursday press briefing, Panelo said Duterte was disappointed with the PNP because the President already did what he can for the police force but some cops still got themselves involved with illegal drugs.

“He just expressed disappointment, yun lang ang mako-confirm ko (that’s what I can confirm),” he said.

“[He] Expressed disappointment over certain, yun nga, yung incident ng mga ninja cops. Sabi niya dinagdagan niya na ang sweldo, dinoble niya na pero parang hindi pa rin… nangyari pa rin ‘yon (because of the ninja cops issue. He said he already doubled their salary but they still do it),” he added.

Former PNP chief General Oscar Albayalde stepped down from his position weeks before his scheduled retirement due to the ninja cops controversy. He was linked to a controversial drug raid in Pampanga in 2013 where police operatives did not report the entire amount of illegal drugs they recovered in the said operation.

During his visit to Russia early this month, Duterte expressed disappointment about the issue and vowed to finish ninja cops off.

“Meron akong ninja ngayon pag-uwi talagang upakan ko itong mga putang inang pulis na ito (I have this problem on ninja cops now and I will really punch them when I get home),” he told members of the Filipino community in Moscow.