DOJ notes flaws in general’s claims
The Department of Justice (DOJ) was aware of the claims of fugitive former Police Gen. Narciso Domingo since 2022, but Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon said that did not explain many aspects of the “staged” P6.7-billion drug operation for which he is now charged.
“If [Police] General Domingo believes that the DOJ erred in indicting him, then he should know that legal remedies are available to him,” Fadullon said in a message to reporters after the fugitive general emerged from hiding over the weekend.
“Resorting to social media to gain sympathy is definitely not the right track to follow, especially when the narrative presented is not only flawed but also slanted,” Fadullon added.
Domingo, then chief of the Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG), is one of 30 police officers charged over irregularities in a October 2022 drug bust that led to the arrest of Police Master Sgt. Rodolfo Mayo Jr. and the seizure of 990 kilograms of “shabu,” worth P6.7 billion.
Fadullon confirmed that Domingo met with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla later that year after a case was filed against Mayo before the Office of the City Prosecutor of Manila.
However, Fadullon clarified that the meeting did not absolve Domingo of liability in the drug operation.
Irrelevant to cases
In a video message posted on his Facebook account, Domingo urged President Marcos to look into the cases filed against him over the mishandling of the 2022 operation and for planting evidence, saying it was a “miscarriage of justice.”
Domingo said he met with Remulla, who, he claimed, called on Fadullon and a certain “Attorney Magno” of the National Bureau of Investigation, allegedly to help make the case airtight and ensure that Mayo would not escape liability.
He alleged that the cases recently filed against him by the justice department were “designed with the intention of allowing Mayo and his superiors to be released” and as “retaliation” against them because they lost drugs worth almost P7 billion.
In his social media post, Domingo said: “To Prosecutor Fadullon, sir, you know what is right. We serve only for the country. Karma is real.”
But Fadullon clarified that his involvement was not intended to help the police strengthen their case against Mayo, but rather to listen to the accounts of Domingo and Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group legal officer Col. Darwin Paz.
“As early as then, it was clear that there were a lot of flaws in their story,” Fadullon said, noting questions such as why Domingo approved Mayo’s release despite his arrest and how his rearrest was justified when records showed he had already participated in an operation.
No absolution
He emphasized that the meeting at the DOJ did not absolve Domingo of liability, as further investigations by the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management and the National Police Commission revealed key pieces of evidence—including authenticated CCTV footage—that pointed to alleged “planting” and “bungling” of evidence.
“The evidence presented before us in 2022 was solely based on the narrative of General Domingo, which, sad to say, was incomplete and sanitized to suit his benefit,” Fadullon said.
He stressed that the DOJ would not ignore the apparent flaws in Mayo’s arrest and prosecution.
“Yes, karma is real for those who covered up the truth,” he said, pointing to false police reports that Mayo was arrested on Oct. 9 when he was already in police custody on Oct. 8.
