Court issues hold departure order vs 30 cops in ‘staged’ drug bust
A Manila court has issued a hold departure order (HDO) against 30 police officers implicated in the mishandling of a “staged” P6.7-billion drug haul in October 2022.
In an 11-page order dated Jan. 16, the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 44 granted the prosecution’s motion, citing the “high probability” the accused might leave the country to evade arrest and prosecution for the charges filed against them.
BI list
The court directed Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado “to hold and prevent the departure of the accused … at any Philippine airport, seaport, or any port” and to include their names on the Bureau of Immigration’s hold departure list.
The policemen subject to the HDO are: Benjamin Santos Jr., Narciso Domingo, Rodolfo Mayo, Julian Olonan, Arnulfo Ibañez, Michael Salmingo, Dhefrey Punzalan, Jonathan Sosongco, Carlos Bayeta, Hustin Peter Gular, Rommar Bugarin, Hassan Kalaw, Dennis Carolino, Joshua Ivan Baltazar, Nathaniel Gomez and Ashrap Amerol.
Also included are: Jerrywin Rebosora, Lorenzo Catarata, Marian Mananghaya, Arnold Tibay, Glenn Gonzalez, Randolph Piñon, Mario Atchuela, Windel de Ramos, Silverio Bulleser II, Emmanuele Docena, Alejandro Flores, Jhan Roland Gelacio, James Osalvo and Darius Camacho.
However, the police said that one of the accused, a police general, left the country on Jan. 8, six days before the court issued an arrest warrant.
Charges filed
The court earlier issued arrest warrants against the accused for alleged violations of Section 92 of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, which addresses delays or mishandling of drug cases during prosecution.
Bail was set at P200,000 per respondent.
In a 47-page resolution dated Dec. 10, 2024, a panel of prosecutors from the Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended the filing of charges against the 30 police officers, including two generals, for planting evidence and bungling the prosecution of the case.
The charges stemmed from a buy-bust operation that was allegedly manipulated.
Initial police reports claimed that one of the accused, Mayo, was arrested in a hot-pursuit operation at Quiapo Bridge on Oct. 9, 2022, with two kilos of crystal meth or “shabu” in his possession.
A separate buy-bust operation in Tondo on Oct. 8 reportedly led to the arrest of another suspect, Ney Atadero.
