Philippines National Police Commander General Oscar Albayalde announced his resignation today, caught up in charges of abuse of power.

General Oscar Albayalde said his resignation was approved by Interior Minister Eduardo Ano over the weekend and has not been related to his recent abuse of power. Albayalde insists he has never been charged with a criminal or administrative charge. Former Philippine National Police Commander resigns about three weeks before retiring on schedule on November 8.

The decision came after Albayalde was accused in a Senate hearing on October 1 that in 2013, he intervened as a provincial police commander to prevent his officers from being prosecution for alleged drug trafficking.

The allegations against Albayalde are the biggest "dark cloud" to the Philippine national police, which is primarily conducting President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war. A number of officers in the force have been accused of earning millions of dollars by selling the huge amount of drug seized.

According to sources from two former officials, the incident involved a direct involvement of General Albayalde, who was appointed by Duterte as commander of the National Police in April last year. "If I were him, I would probably consider resigning," said Senator Richard Gordon, who is leading the investigation into the scandal on October 1.

"The tokhang (drug war) campaign has killed thousands of drug traffickers, but is now losing credibility because of the charges against senior Philippine National Police (PNP) officials. ", Senator Franklin Drilon said.

After taking power in May 2016, President Duterte launched a war against drugs, allowing police to shoot and kill the suspects on the spot without trial. Philippines National Police said more than 6,600 people were killed in the operation, but independent UN monitors believe the actual figure could reach more than 27,000.