Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos, Jr. said Thursday that police officers with the rank of colonel and up have ''until the end of January to submit their courtesy resignations.

Asked what will happen to officers who will not submit resignations, he said: "We'll see. We will act on this, but I can't say how we will deal with this yet. But this is still (being studied)."

Abalos on Wednesday appealed to police colonels and generals to submit courtesy resignations and be given a chance to clear their names from being linked to the illegal drug trade.

A five-man committee will check the records of the top officials and will recommend to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr whether he should accept the courtesy resignation.

In an interview with dzBB, Abalos said: “If I’m not mistaken, more or less it would be until the end of this month. But I hope we will be able to finish the whole process in two to three months at most.”

Abalos said there will be no “vacuum” once top police officials hand in their courtesy resignations.

“When they resign, they won’t leave a vacuum in their position. It’s not like that. Their work continues until such resignation. If the resignation gets accepted, of course, they’ll be dismissed. It’s like an early retirement,” he said.

PNP chief Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Jr. earlier announced that he and the command group had submitted their resignations.

Abalos revealed that Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong will be one of the members of the independent committee that will look into the police officials’ alleged involvement in illegal drugs.

“I can name only name one of the members so that people can be reassured. I asked first if I can mention his name... It is of course the former general who was part of the SAF (Special Action Forces) 44 (case) who is now the mayor of Baguio, General Benjie Magalong,” Abalos told dzBB.

“You can really see that he has credibility and integrity. He has a really clean record,” he added.

In 2015, he headed the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and presided over the PNP Board of Inquiry on the Mamasapano incident. Jaspearl Tan/DMS