DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/06 July) – Expect more high-ranking police officials allegedly involved in illegal drugs to be named in the coming days, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa said.
In a media interview in Camp Crame on Wednesday, Dela Rosa said President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s long list includes not only names of high-ranking police officials but also rank-and-file personnel as part of the measure to cleanse the PNP.
“For all we know, the president’s list includes not only star rank, not only senior superintendents but also PO1.
I don’t know how many pages, but there’s a lot),” he said in Filipino.
During the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force at the Clark Air Base Tuesday, Duterte named Gen.Marcelo Garbo (retired), Gen. Vicente Loot (retired) who is now mayor of Daanbantayan in Cebu, and Gen. Edgardo Tinio, and one Gen. Diaz whom he only identified as a former director of PNP-Region 11.
Dela Rosa said that publicly naming the five generals would compel the PNP’s 160,000 members to do well in their duties and do away with drugs.
“This has a huge effect on us, meaning for as long as we have President Duterte, no one can ever dare to do anything bad, because he will really divulge them),” he said.
He said the morale within the PNP remains high and that “this turmoil will come to pass. In our organization, this is part of how to bring the honor back to the organization.
It was just part and parcel of the process and we will take it positively.”
The PNP chief met with Diaz, Pagdilao and Tinio on Wednesday and said he is willing to meet even with Garbo and Loot.
Dela Rosa refused to disclose what transpired during the meeting, and opted to wait for the results of the investigation being conducted by the National Police Commission, but “anytime I need their presence I can make them report to me. That’s one way of accounting them.”
“I gave them the assurance that kahit na upper class ko sila (even if they are may upper class men), I am the father right now..
He said that as the “father”, he will look after their welfare but will make them “face the music” if they did anything wrong.
He believed that Duterte, with his access to all intelligence information from across the country and even from other nations, has a basis for accusing the five police officials as involved in drug syndicates.
He added the president knows what he is doing being “a good lawyer, a prosecutor for a very long time, and mayor of Davao City.” (Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
