New manila scandal

The chief of police in the Philippines has stepped down after facing historical accusations in the Senate that he protected officers who had resold confiscated drugs and received some of the profits. Albayalde has denied the allegations. It comes weeks before his scheduled retirement on 8 November. The shocking allegation stemmed from a anti-drug raid in Pampanga province in Central Luzon, when he was a provincial police chief. He allegedly sought to stop the dismissal of officers under him who were found to have taken and hidden more than kg of shabu, or methamphetamine, as a bribe from a drug suspect so he could escape. A fall guy was arrested instead.

It was reported that these prisoners inside the said cell were being held by the police allegedly to be released only upon payment of ransom. As a result, MPD station commander Supt. Robert Domingo and other 12 officers were relieved temporarily from his post on April The MPD jail cell was not the first such secret police detention cell discovered in the Philippines. They also accused 10 police officers of extortion.

President Rodrigo Duterte has made a bloody war on drugs his signature campaign, to the approval of most voters, despite international outrage about the bloodshed amid fears many suspected dealers have been killed by police in staged encounters and by death squads. On Monday, he referred to the hearing and the fact he was being implicated in the scandal and said he was stepping down to make way for a new police chief. Albayalde, the second chief of the ,strong force under Duterte, was the head of the Pampanga provincial police when 13 of its officers were accused of stealing about kg lb of narcotics seized in a raid.

Here, politicians often behave like gladiators: To survive they have to entertain the spectators. This is what Filipinos have come to accept - and even expect - from their leaders. This is why, when opponents of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pushed her into the arena by accusing her of rigging the election last year, few here were surprised. It is the kind of attitude expected in a country where losing candidates always complain.