High-ranking officers who were allegedly involved in the illegal drug case of former Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo Jr. of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Drug Enforcement Group will be dismissed, the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr. said Wednesday.

“What I am saying is that I am not happy. From the evidence we gathered, we saw that many police with high positions were involved,” Abalos said at a press conference.

“In the following days, I will announce that heads will roll. I expect that, pending the investigation, they will be on leave if they are not suspended,” he added.

He said they would file charges against the cops involved.

The Philippine National Police has not reacted to Abalos' revelation. On Tuesday, the PNP said the 990 kilos of shabu were among the P19.96 billion worth of illegal drugs destroyed in Trece Martires City, Cavite last March 16.

On October 2022, Mayo, an intelligence officer, was apprehended after authorities seized 990 kilos of shabu worth P6.7 billion during a buy-bust operation in Manila.

Abalos said it was the “biggest drug haul” in the country.

Abalos, chairperson of the National Police Commission (Napolcom), said after getting inconclusive reports on Mayo’s case from their three meetings, he ordered Napolcom Vice Chair Alberto Bernardo to create a fact-finding committee.

He also said the colonels’ and generals’ submission of courtesy resignations to pursue an internal cleansing probe will affect the case.

“You know, it’s a five-man committee. I leave it to the five-man committee, but I will give them the data. It's up to the 5-man committee if they will accept it, but what is important is that I give them the information I know and the evidence I’m holding,” Abalos said.

Abalos in January urged colonels and generals of the PNP to submit courtesy resignations as part of the government’s efforts to cleanse their ranks.

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. Jaspearl Tan/DMS