Tough adjustments from cop to pol

The process of adjustment from being a successful policeman to a member of the legislature is being taken step by careful step by neophyte Sen. Roland “Bato” de la Rosa.

Until now, more than two months after being elected senator,

the senator admitted to still having the frame of mind of a cop as he admits he is a police at heart.

“Sometimes, I try to shake off the feeling that I am still a member of the police force. I keep on reminding myself that I am already a legislator,” De la Rosa said during a guesting on the regular online forum “Straight Talk with Daily Tribune.”

“At times for instance, I feel it’s hard to totally detach from the PNP (Philippine National Police) organization because that’s where people started to know me. The PNP is my life,” he noted.

He explained that for the past 36 years, his routine is that which is followed by a member of the PNP, making it hard to suddenly kick the habit.

“So now that I have been elected to the Senate, more importantly since I am handling the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, I promise to be objective when holding an inquiry,” the legislator said.

He noted there would always be a danger that he would side or support the view of the police force during such hearings.

Bias towards law enforcers

“In dealing with policemen during the hearings, my bias towards the police may show,” he said. “But I will do my best. Even when I was the PNP chief, I always tell all policemen, “If you are being taken advantage of, I will be your best friend. I will defend you until death. But if you are a bad cop, I will be your worst enemy.”

“I still carry that mindset but on a different level since I am now a senator. And I am now preoccupied with what legislations needed to be reformed,” he added.

De la Rosa, along with peers Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, Imee Marcos and Francis Tolentino, attended the orientation given to newly-elected senators to familiarize them with the institution’s legislative process and administrative procedures.

The orientation was a closed-door briefing organized by the Office of Senate Secretary Myra Villarica.

Public focus

The public, particularly critics of the war on drugs, is keenly watching De la Rosa as head of the Senate committee that will handle the inquiries on dangerous drugs.

The senator indicated he would not inhibit himself from future probes on the drug war.

“Why should I inhibit? Did I kill anybody? I was never involved in the killings,” he said.

He also mentioned that he will yield the panel to another senator if he proves ineffective in conducting the probe.

De la Rosa was the former director general of the Bureau of Corrections and was also the Davao City Police Chief from 2012 to 2013, mostly during Mr. Duterte’s term as city mayor.

He initiated Oplan “Tokhang,” an operation that’s named after the Bisaya words for knock (toktok) and plead (hangyo), in which authorities try to persuade drug users to mend their ways or to surrender.

Sometimes I try to shake off the feeling that I am still a member of the police force.