78% of Filipinos believe there are 'ninja cops' — SWS
MANILA, Philippines — An overwhelming majority of Filipinos believe there are “ninja cops”—policemen involved in the illicit resale of seized illegal drugs—in the 190,000-strong force, results of a new Social Weather Stations survey suggest.
Of the 1,200 adults surveyed, 78% believe the accusation. Only 7% think the allegation that there are “ninja cops” in the police force is false, while 15 are undecided about the matter.
SWS noted the net belief in the accusation there are cops who made money by selling confiscated illegal drugs was highest in Metro Manila at +77. It was followed by Balance Luzon at +71, Visayas at +69 and Mindanao at +65.
The survey also found that 23% of the respondents said there are “very many” “ninja cops.”
Forty-four percent answered “somewhat many,” 28% “a little” and 3% “almost none” to the question, “In your opinion, how many among members of the police force are ‘ninja cops?’”
The proportion of those who said there are many rogue officers was highest in Metro Manila at 79%. It was followed by Balance Luzon at 70%, Visayas at 68% and Mindanao at 53%.
The issue on the “ninja cops” surfaced in September last year when former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group director and now Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong bared in an executive session the involvement of the 13 Pampanga policemen in an anomalous buy-bust operation in 2013.
Albayade as ‘ninja cops’ protector
Half of the respondents believe the accusation that former top cop Oscar Albayalde is a protector of “ninja cops.” Only 13% do not believe the accusation, while 37% are undecided.
Of the 50% who say they believe the accusation, 20% said they “strongly believe” and said they “somewhat believe.”
The net belief in the allegation was highest in the Visayas at +43. It was followed by Metro Manila at +40, Balance Luzon at +36 and Mindanao at +33.
Albayalde stepped down as the head of the PNP in October last year after battling allegations that he had coddled cops involved in drug recycling issue.
A joint Senate panel said Albayalde committed malfeasance for interfering in the implementation of the dismissal order issued against the 13 Pampanga cops.
The survey was conducted between December 13 and 16. It has sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
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