Senator Dick Gordon has advised dismissed police Colonel Eduardo Acierto, former deputy director for administration of the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (DEG), to come out of hiding and surrender.
Acierto recently accused President Rodrigo Duterte and the Philippine National Police of ignoring an intelligence report that he allegedly submitted and blocking further probe into the alleged drug links of presidential economic adviser Michael Yang.
Gordon stressed that if Acierto really had verified information to disclose and had no involvement in the smuggling of tons of shabu thru the Bureau of Customs, he should voluntarily surrender to the authorities and issue a sworn statement.
“Nagtatago siya… Bakit siya nagtatago? Dapat lumabas siya kung wala siyang kasalanan… Sumuko na lang siya. Sabi ko sabihin mo na sa publiko yang gusto mong sabihin kung gusto mong makatulong sa yo. Ayaw naman niya lumabas, di na nagpakita,” the seasoned legislator said, pointing out that Acierto only sullied his lengthy career by his involvement in shady deals such as the drug smuggling, the illegal selling of high-powered guns, and the murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo.
“Acierto only sullied his lengthy career by his involvement in shady deals.”
The veteran lawmaker disclosed that, in an executive session requested by Acierto during the height of the Blue Ribbon Committee’s investigation into the shabu smuggling, the dismissed police officer mentioned Yang and showed a paper purportedly containing a diagram of the drug operations in the country of an international drug ring. The said meeting was joined by the Blue Ribbon Committee secretariat and various staff of the senator.
“Pinilit ko siyang lumabas pero wala siyang sinasabi. Ang sinasabi lang nya gusto daw niyang tumulong. Nagkaroon kami ng executive session, tapos nagbigay siya ng pangalan, si Michael Yang na tao daw ni Presidente. Wala naman siyang (Acierto) pinakitang eto ang ginawa niya (Yang) na kasalanan. Lahat ng sinabi niya walang ebidensya. Lahat ng aming napag-usapan nakalista, walang ebidensya yun dahil hearsay… Ano inabot nya e di nga pwedeng ebidensya?” he said.
The chairman of the Blue Ribbon committee added that he even asked Acierto to turn state witness and be taken under the Witness Protection Program’s wing, but the dismissed police officer merely gave a lot of excuses and did not take Gordon up on his offer.
“I asked Acierto to turn into a state witness but he gave a lot of excuses.”
“Ang lagi lang niyang sinasabi e may nalalaman siya. Pero he wasn’t specific, there was no concrete and supporting evidence to back up his allegations,” Gordon said, dismayed that Acierto and former Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) deputy chief Ismael Fajardo remain at large.
