Police Superintendent Rodney Baloyo IV on Tuesday asked the Department of Justice to dismiss the criminal complaint filed against him by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, saying the complainant failed to present the Chinese national who reportedly ended up as the fall guy in the missing P648 million worth of shabu that was taken from an anti-illegal drugs operation in 2013.
In his 13-page rejoinder-affidavit, Baloyo argued that the complainant PNP-CIDG was unable to present before the DOJ’s panel of prosecutors Chinese national Ding Wenkun as a witness in the proceedings.
“The truth of the matter could have been laid to rest by simple expedient of presenting Ding Wenkun as a witness himself, but the complainant PNP-CIDG, for inexplicable and unjustifiable reasons, has consistently failed to present him before the Hon. Department of Justice ever since the inception of this Criminal Complaint, or since way back in the year 2014,” Baloyo said.
In Wenkun’s absence, Baloyo said the PNP-CIDG tried to pass off the sworn statement of a certain Neil Gernace as its substitute witness.
“However, it is crystal clear that Gernace had no personal knowledge of the truth and veracity of what Ding Wenkun was supposedly saying, as Gernace was only admittedly present when Ding Wenkun executed his statement, and not during his actual arrest,” Baloyo said.
Gernace’s admission that Wenkun gave his testimony in Chinese compounded the problem since in the PNP-CIDG’s complaint, neither Gernace or the notary public Atty. Olimpio Datu said that they understood the Chinese language.
The respondent argued that this becomes a “double hearsay” because Gernace reportedly based the authenticity and genuineness of Wenkun’s testimony on the interpretation of a prison inmate Albert Chua.
Gernace failed to explain why he relied on the interpretation of a felon, and it also cast doubt on the credibility of the translation. Neither Gernace or the Notary Public could not authenticate the translation.
Because of this, Baloyo pleaded that the DOJ should dismiss outright the complaint filed against him because the case has already been thoroughly and exhaustively resolved in year 2014, and was affirmed with finality by way of automatic review in year 2017.
He claimed that the charge was likewise a violation of his constitutional right to speedy disposition of cases; and that the DOJ does not have jurisdiction to re-open the investigation.
On November 2013, Baloyo led a 13-man police raiding team that entered the house being rented by alleged Korean large-scale drug trafficker Johnson Lee along Lot 21 and 22 Narra corner Waling Waling Streets, Woodbridge Subdivision, Lakeshore, Barangay Divisoria, Mexico, Pampanga.
The PNP raiding team allegedly released Lee in exchange for 160 kilograms of shabu worth P648 million, P50 million, brand new sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and in his stead, presented Chinese national Wengkun as suspect.
