PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa said apprehended drug lord Diana Uy may have won the loyalty of her two police escorts by giving each a P1000 daily allowance.
Dela Rosa said the two policemen, Police Officer 3 Walted Vidad and Police Officer 2 Faizal Sawadjaan, and their supervisor have admitted knowing that their ward is a daughter of Yu Yuk Lai, a convicted drug queen currently detained at the Women's Correctional Facility. Yet, they did not inform their superiors.
“Kinausap ko silang tatlo, ‘yung dalawang pulis at ‘yung kanilang chief na senior superintendent at nung una hindi sila umaamin na alam nila na kesyo daw nasa sasakyan lang sila pero nung nagalit na ako at gusto ko na sila pagsasasakalin umamin din na alam pala nila na anak ni Yu Yuk Lai itong sinesecure nila," Dela Rosa said.
"Alam nila dahil sumasama man sila pag bumisita sila doon sa Women’s Correctional Facility (WCF) si Diane bumibisita sa mother nya,” he added.
(I talked to the three of them, the two policemen and their chief. At first they would not admit, but when I got mad, they confessed that they were aware that they were providing security to Yu Yuk Lai's daughter. They know because they would accompany her whenever she visits her mother at the Women’s Correctional Facility.)
Dela Rosa said he ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to place Vidad and Sawadjaan under restrictive custody while they are undergoing investigation on their possible involvement in Uy’s illegal drugs operations.
He said the investigation may include the former officials of the PNP Police Security Protection Group (PSPG) who approved Uy’s request for security detail. He said most of them have already retired.
Vidad and Sawadjaan have also been slapped with administrative charges of serious neglect of duty.
“Ang duty nila d’yan ay hindi lang mag-secure sa kanilang principal kundi i-monitor din ‘yung principal nila kung may mga illegal activities na ginagawa at dapat nire-report nila sa kanilang boss,” he said.
(Their duty is not only to secure their principal but to monitor also whether their principal is involved in any illegal activities which they should have reported to their superiors.)
“Pero wala hindi nagawa, nalipat na loyalty doon dahil araw-araw binibigyan na ng pera, may allowance na P1,000 daily so nandun na ‘yung loyalty nila sa boss na drug lord," he added.
(But they did not do it. They have switched loyalties because they are being given money, they have allowance of P1,000 daily that is why their loyalty is already with her.)
Based on the PSPG record, Uy requested for a police security aide in 2010, four years after she and her sister were kidnapped in 2006. They claimed there was imminent threat to their lives because their abductor, to whom ransom was paid for their release, was still at large.
PSPG director Chief Superintendent Crisostomo Garcia said Uy had approved security detail from 2010 to 2015, but they were pulled out in 2016 due to the elections. The arrangement was renewed after the elections.
Vidad has been detailed to Uy since 2010 and Sawadjaan, since 2013.
The PNP had been blind to Uy’s illegal drugs transactions. Uy was arrested on November 6 during a raid by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) in her condominium unit near the Malacañang in Manila. Authorities allegedly seized over P10 million worth of suspected methamphetamine hydrochloride (shabu).
The operation came hours after the PDEA conducted a raid inside the WCF where they recovered illegal drugs from Yu Yuk Lai, indicating she has continued running an illegal drugs operations even under detention. (VoxPop Philippines)
