PNP chief says war on drugs to continue despite latest controversies

PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa attended the 116th Police Service Day of PRO-7 on Wednesday. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)

CEBU CITY– The death of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos in the hands of the Caloocan City police is not enough to put a stop in the war against drugs.

Nor can Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Philippine National Police chief, assure that the Grade 12 pupil would be the last casualty.

“I’m not God,” he told reporters. “Dili ko ing-ana ka powerful nga wala nay mamatay during operations. Ang ako lang ika-siguro nga ang police ninyo karon nagtrabaho naningkamot ug nag-iwas sa kaso (I am not that powerful that no one would die during the operations. What I can assure you that your policemen now would work hard and would avoid any cases),” Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa was special guest speaker in the 116th anniversary of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) on Wednesday.

He admitted the criticisms brought by the death of Delos Santos brought down the morale of his men but the “fight continued.”

“Let’s continue our war on drugs. Let’s do our job tungod kay kahibalo ta sa atong ginahimo again dili ni para sa atoa kun dili para sa komunidad, para sa Pilipinas (because we know that we are doing this, not for ourselves, but for the community, for the Philippines),” he said in his speech after awarding PRO-7’s outstanding policemen.

But Dela Rosa asked his men to do their job properly and not plant evidence against the suspects.

“At dahil kayo ay pagod na at alam niyo na ang tao na yan ay labas masok sa kulungan sige lang mahuli tapos ngayon gusto niyong hulihin at wala kayong nakuha, tinaniman niyo, wag niyong gawin iyan (Because you are tired and you know that that person had been in and out of jail. Now you want to arrest him but you didn’t get anything. So you just planted evidence,” he said.

“That is very bad. God is watching us,” he added.