Bato weeps: Who’s there to trust?
It’s enough to make “the Rock” weep. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa, nicknamed Bato or the Rock, was reduced to tears during the Senate hearing yesterday as suspected drug lord Kerwin Espinosa bared the involvement of police officers in drug trafficking.
“Hiyang-hiya na ako (I’m so ashamed),” said Dela Rosa after Espinosa named over a dozen police officers, particularly those assigned in Eastern Visayas who allegedly received bribes to protect the illegal drug operations in the region.
Dela Rosa broke down when Sen. Miguel Zubiri, an administration ally, asked the PNP chief how he could cleanse the police organization of scalawags.
“Pinapasa-Diyos ko na lang itong PNP (I’m leaving the PNP to God). Gustong-gusto kong mareform ang (I want to reform the) PNP. Ako’y hirap na hirap na (I’m having a very hard time),” he said.
During yesterday’s hearing, Espinosa named several police officers who allegedly received protection money from him for his illegal drug operations in his hometown.
Dela Rosa said almost all the policemen Espinosa tagged as protector of illegal drug traders have been relieved and reassigned to the PNP Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU). “Halos lahat ng mga nabanggit
nya (Almost all those mentioned by him [Espinosa]) ay na (were) re-assign na sa (to the) PHAU undergoing investigation,” he said.
Dela Rosa noted that at times he did not know whom among his officers to trust.
“There are times that I don’t know who to trust, who is in or out of the drug business,” said Dela Rosa. “But I will fight until the end.”
Dela Rosa was the personal choice of President Duterte to lead the PNP in the government’s war against illegal drugs.
He vowed to keep the commitment of the President to end the drug menace during his sixyear term.
Rep. Lito Atienza of party-list Buhay urged Duterte yesterday to dismiss and order the investigation of police officers named by Espinosa in his Senate testimony.
“Kerwin exposed corruption in the Philippine National Police. He identified the officers receiving protection money from him. They are high-ranking officers up to the rank of director or general,” Atienza told a news conference.
Based on the suspected drug lord’s testimony, these corrupt PNP officers “are largely responsible for the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country,” he said.
“If this is happening in Espinosa’s areas of operation, it is possibly happening in other areas where other drug lords wield influence. This means that we have a PNP drug mafia, in addition to whatever drug syndicates we have out there,” he said.
Atienza, a former Manila mayor, said he knows from experience that without the connivance of police officers with drug dealers, the drug menace would not spread.
“Kerwin’s revelations should serve as a wake- up call for President Duterte to order the dismissal and investigation of all these police officers. The earlier he does that, the better for the country,” he stressed.