Bato: Kian’s death will not stop war on drugs

PHILIPPINE National Police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, while delivering his message during the 116th Police Service anniversary in Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr. on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017, warns he will hang cops who tampered with the attendance sheets of erring cops now confined in Camp Crame.
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

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 could assure you was that your policemen would work hard and would avoid any cases),” Dela Rosa said.

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

He admitted the criticisms triggered by the death of Delos Santos brought down the morale of his men, but the fight against illegal drugs would continue.

“Let’s continue our war on drugs. Let’s do our job tungod kay kahibalo ta sa atong ginahimo 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.

Dela Rosa assured his men that they would be able to hurdle the criticisms and controversies they are facing.

But he asked them to do their job properly and to avoid planting 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.

Dela Rosa admitted that the criticism hurled against the police following the killing of Delos Santos demoralized them.

He lamented that the issue had been politicized as some people had taken advantaged of it, forgetting that policemen put their lives on the line during operations.

“But ipadayon ang among kampanya bisan demoralized pami (But we will continue our campaign against illegal drugs even if we are demoralized),” Dela Rosa said.

He also said that relieving the police officers involved in the operation in Caloocan didn’t mean that they were guilty, rather it only meant that the PNP was being transparent in its investigation.

In a separate interview, Dela Rosa said it would be up to the public to judge whether the war on drugs was effective or not.

But their data showed that crime index went down due to their intensified campaign against illegal drugs.

He, however, admitted that the supply of illegal drugs continued even if they had destroyed shabu laboratories, arrested drug personalities and confiscated illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa said they had to be one step ahead of these drugs lords who had a lot of means to transport drugs into the country.

He cited the discovery of the P6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment in Valenzuela City that managed to slip through Customs.

He added it was not the first time that shabu shipment was able to get into the country.

In the meantime, Dela Rosa denied that there were destabilization moves within the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“Kung buhaton nila karon? Kung gusto nila i-oust ang Presidente? (If they will do it now? If they want to oust the President?) Over my dead body,” Dela Rosa said.

He said that if President Duterte’s approval rating was 80 percent, the PNP’s rating to their commander-in-chief was more than 100 percent.

“Sigurado mi nga (We are sure that we are) solid mi behind our President,” Dela Rosa added.

He pointed out that there was no reason to plot for Mr. Duterte’s ouster because for the first time, the PNP had a president who fully supported them and always had their backs.

He added that only those policemen who were involved in illegal drugs were against the President.