‘Bato’ on PH drug war: Dissolve PNP, gov’t if we don’t trust the stats

MANILA, Philippines — If we don’t trust the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the government, we might as well “dissolve” them.

This was according to Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa who slammed the report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) which stated that the number of those killed in the government’s war on illegal drugs in the Philippines may be “triple” than what the PNP has reported.

Dela Rosa, who served as PNP chief during the first years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war, said the basis for the report was “ridiculous and preposterous.”

“Twenty-seven thousand daw ang napatay sa war on drugs, samantalang ang official record ng PNP is 5,000 plus lang,” Dela Rosa said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel’s “Headstart” on Wednesday.

(They said 27,000 were killed in the drug war when the official record of the PNP is only at more than 5,000).

In a speech delivered during the UN Human Rights Council’s 44th regular session in Geneva, Switzerland last June 30, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said the Duterte administration’s war on drugs has been “widespread and systematic.”

She added that the country’s drive against illegal drugs is being enforced “without due regard for the rule of law.”

Bachelet said this as she presented her office’s report on the human rights situation in the Philippines.

At one point during the interview, Dela Rosa was asked why the drug war numbers from the PNP should be trusted.

“If you do not trust the PNP numbers, we dissolve the PNP, if you don’t trust the government, tanggalin natin gobyerno. Let the human rights [groups], sila ang mag-rule sa ating bansa pag ganun, kung wala na tayong tiwala sa government instrumentality,” Dela Rosa said.

(If you do not trust the PNP numbers, we dissolve the PNP, if you don’t trust the government, let’s remove the overnment. Let the human rights groups rule the country, if we don’t trust government instrumentalities).

“Sige, dissolve natin lahat pati gobyerno pag ‘di tayo maniwala,” he added.

(Let’s dissolve it all, even the government if we don’t trust them).

Further, Dela Rosa said he would welcome UN human rights experts to the Philippines and investigate the human rights situation in the country.

Bachelet had earlier mentioned that while the Philippine government cooperated during briefing submissions and several meetings for the report, she said her team was “not granted access to the country.”

Her office, meanwhile, received “hundreds of submissions from organizations and individuals across the Philippines.”

“I welcome that move kung nandyan saila para malaman nila talaga ang katotohanan. Pero it’s not for me to decide, it’s an executive decision kung i-allow silang pumasok dito,” Dela Rosa said.

(I welcome that move if they will go here so that they will see for themselves the truth. But it’s not for me to decide, that’s an executive decision to allow them to enter the country).

/MUF