Bato likens rogue cops to abusive priests: Problem is the person, not the organization
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has compared rogue policemen to priests who commit sexual abuse, saying that the problem lies with the person and not with the organization.
“Nasa tao (ang problema), hindi sa organisasyon. Bakit kahit sabihin mo yung pari sa church ‘di ba may pari rin na nangre-rape, may pari rin na gumawa ng sexual abuse,” Dela Rosa told reporters when asked about what could be the problem despite the recent increase in cops’ salary.
“Hindi ko naman nilalahat, meron din. Nasa tao yan. Kahit araw-araw ka magdadasal ‘pag masamang tao ka, masama ka talaga,” he added.
Before dawn Tuesday, the PNP’s Counter-Intelligence Task Force (CITF) arrested six Caranglan Municipal Police Station policemen, along with two civilian cohorts, after they extorted money from businessmen in Nueva Ecija.
This comes a day after the police force’s wage increase of up to 100 percent took effect in their payroll last Monday.
READ: Cops’ Jan. 15 payroll to reflect up to 100% wage increase
“Kung basically masama ka talagang tao, kahit na siguro you have all the money, you have all the gold, pag basically masamang tao ka masamang tao ka talaga, gagawa at gagawa ka parin ng kasamaan,” Dela Rosa told reporters on Tuesday.
“Masama talaga silang tao and they deserve to be dismissed. Idi-dismiss natin ‘yan sa serbisyo, sisiguraduhin natin ‘yan,” he added.
The PNP chief admitted that while they would continue with their efforts to cleanse their ranks, this incident saddened him.
“Alangan namang masaya ako, malungkot talaga. But still, we will never surrender, patuloy parin ang ating internal cleansing program,” he said.
“I don’t care kung iilan na lang pulis ang maiwan sa atin, basta importante matitino na pulis kasi kesa marami tayong pulis mga siraulo naman,” he added.
When asked what could possibly solve the agency’s problem with rogue cops, the PNP chief answered: “Eh naku, paano i-recreate natin yung tao? I ran out of solutions.”
He said dismissal from service remains to be the best solution to address the issue right away.
“As I have said, since malaki na ang sweldo natin ngayon, mas mabilis kayong ma-dismiss kapag kayo’y gumawa ng kalokohan. Dapat no more room for foolishness, ganyan kataas ang sweldo mo, mahiya ka naman,” Dela Rosa said.
“Makonsensya ka dahil binigay na sayo lahat tapos mangongotong ka pa rin, anong klaseng tao ka,” he added.
The CITF said the arrested cops and civilians have been detained in Camp Crame while administrative and criminal charges are being prepared against them. /kga
