Bato plays Santa to drug suspects’ kids

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa yesterday distributed gifts to children in Barangay Batasan Hills, Quezon City whose parents were either killed, arrested or surrendered in President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.

He hopes the move will begin a healing process for those affected by their campaign.

Dela Rosa handed out gifts to around 625 children of suspected drug offenders at the covered court of Batasan High School.

The event took place days after Reuters released a special report about a secretive police squad assigned at the Quezon City Police District Station 6 that racked up 108 kills in anti-drug operations from July 2016 to June 2017.

Batasan Hills is one of the barangays under the jurisdiction of Station 6.

The Davao City-based police officers were led by former Station 6 commander Superintendent Lito Patay, who is now assigned at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

Dela Rosa insisted the gift-giving activity has nothing to do with the Reuters article. “With or without that Reuters report, this gift-giving activity has long been planned,” Dela Rosa told reporters in an ambush interview.

Dela Rosa told the children and their relatives present to move on, saying the PNP also lost policemen in their antidrug campaign. He added that what they are doing is for the young to have a safe environment free of the drug menace.

“We don’t want you to have resentment forever. Let’s all move on,” said Dela Rosa. “Let’s forget all the bad things that happened, for the children’s sake.”

Among those spoke during the activity is Kathrina Polo, whose husband Cherwen was killed in August 2016 by policemen in what authorities said was a legitimate anti-drug operation in Barangay Payatas. She was also among the resource persons mentioned in the

Reuters report. “Let’s move on. What we are going through is not easy,” she said in Filipino.

While seeking justice, Polo urged people who had the same experience as her not to wallow in self-pity.

Dela Rosa was still visibly irritated about the

Reuters report – he dared critics to choose between corrupt policemen taking advantage of the drug war for their own gain or the policemen from Davao deployed in Station 6.

“That’s your choice. What kind of policemen do you want us to have?” he added.

BOY SANTOS PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa’s mascot, PO1 Bato, entertains the children of drug offenders during a Christmas party at the Batasan High School in Quezon City yesterday.