Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos, Jr. on Wednesday urged "all full colonels and generals" of the Philippine National Police (PNP) to submit courtesy resignations as part of the government's effort to weed out police officials involved in the illegal drug trade.

“I am appealing to all full colonels up to the generals to submit a courtesy resignation,” Abalos said at a press briefing.

“We’ve got a list (of colonels and generals involved in the illegal drug trade). And for us, this is of course upon the recommendation of the Chief PNP (General Rodolfo Azurin, Jr.). In the hierarchy of the Philippine Police. This is the only way to cleanse the ranks, he added.

When asked if his action was legal, Abalos said, "It was already done in 1992, if I'm not mistaken, by President (Fidel) Ramos. There's already a president who asked officers to submit a courtesy resignation."

Abalos made the appeal to top officials of the PNP.

Based on his estimate, there were more than 300 officials with the rank of colonels and generals in the PNP.

Abalos said a committee composed of five members will look into the records of colonels and generals, so the courtesy resignation would not lead to immediate dismissal from service.

“As long as it (resignation) is not accepted, you’ll stay in place. The operations will continue,” he said.

“If you are not doing anything wrong, file a resignation. And if you don’t file it, it means you’re doing something questionable…we’ve got some action about this. What is important now is the committee, which names I cannot divulge for their security. I am not a member of the committee. But these people are really trustworthy,” he added.

Abalos explained that the courtesy resignation was a “shortcut” to cleansing the ranks of the PNP, saying that filing cases against involved police officials and court trials take too much time.

“We’ve been doing that for so long. We’ve been doing that, you know, and you know how long the process takes in court. This is a shortcut. That’s why I’m appealing to them,” Abalos told reporters.

He stressed that in 2022 several drug enforcement officers were caught selling illegal drugs.

During a series of buy-bust operations, the PNP on October 8, 2022 confiscated 990 kilograms of shabu which was worth around P6.7 billion.

This also led to the arrest of Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo, Jr. who was part of the Drug Enforcement Group in the National Capital Region, after a drug suspect revealed his involvement. Jaspearl Tan/DMS