FILE Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa (Screen grab/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa believes President Rodrigo Duterte will reveal “later” the identity of the presidential candidate whom he accused of being a cocaine user.
“Hindi na kailangan sabihan ang Pangulo. Sasabihin niya yan talaga. Alam ko sasabihin niya ‘yan later,” Dela Rosa, Duterte’s close ally, said Monday in an interview over ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo when asked if he wants the President to name the alleged cocaine use.
(The President does not need to be told that. He will later reveal the identity of that person.)
For his part, Dela Rosa said he does not have any knowledge of a presidential candidate using cocaine.
“Hindi ako sigurado. Wala akong alam diyan,” he said.
(I am not sure. I don’t have any knowledge on that.)
However, Dela Rosa, who previously served as the country’s top cop and the chief implementer of the Duterte administration’s brutal war on drugs, offered his personal opinions whether each presidential aspirant is likely to be using cocaine or not, saying he is sure Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s long-time aide, as well as Senator Panfilo Lacson are not into illegal drugs.
“Isa isahin natin, si Manny Pacquiao, gagamit ba? Si Leni Robredo, ewan ko lang, mukhang hindi rin naman kasi okay naman ‘yung pangangatawan niya,” he said.
(Let’s check each one. Will Manny Pacquiao use illegal drugs? I don’t think Robredo is also into using since she looks okay.)
“Si Bong Go, mas lalong hindi, mabatukan ‘yan ni Presidente kung magsali-sali sa drugs ‘yan. Si Isko Moreno, hindi ko rin sigurado kasi hindi ko masyadong kilala, galing siya sa showbiz. Si Ping Lacson, mas lalong hindi, sigurado akong hindi,” Dela Rosa added.
(The President will chastise Go if he is involved in illegal drugs. I’m not sure about Isko Moreno since I don’t know him and he came from show business. For Ping Lacson, I’m sure he is not using.)
As to former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Dela Rosa also said: “Si Bongbong Marcos, wala akong alam diyan. Hindi ko alam sa kanya.”
(For Bongbong Marcos, I don’t have any knowledge on that. I don’t know about him.)
Dela Rosa, a former chief of the Philippine National Police, said he is not sure whether the information the President got is a new one.
“Hindi ko masiguro kung ‘yung impormasyon ay luma o bago, kung talagang timely information ba yan, sana siya [President] ang tanungin natin kung saan galing ang information na yan,” he said.
(I am not sure if the information he got is old or new, or if it is timely. I think we should ask the President where he got that information.)
Duterte, in a speech last November 18 in Mindoro, questioned the leadership skills of a presidential aspirant, saying that person, whom he called a “weak leader,” is doing cocaine.
For its part, the PNP is trying to get additional information on the cocaine-using presidential aspirant as hinted by the President.
In a separate speech, Duterte referred to Marcos as a “weak leader,” as he rejected the idea of forming an alliance with her daughter’s political party, Lakas-CMD.
Marcos’ lawyer Vic Rodriguez, however, claimed their camp does not feel like their principal is the one being alluded to by Duterte as the cocaine-sniffing presidential aspirant.