Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa– (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Tuesday knelt before the Philippine National Police (PNP) officials and begged them to tell the truth during the Senate probe into the P6.7 billion shabu “cover-up.”
Earlier, senators held in contempt Police Master Sergeant Rodolfo Mayo Jr. and his superior and National Capital Region Drug Enforcement (DEG) officer-in-charge Lieutenant Colonel Arnulfo Ibañez for refusing to answer the questions related to the case.
Also cited for contempt were Police Master Sergeant Carlo Bayeta, Patrolmen Hustin Peter Gular, Rommar Bugarin, Hassan Kalaw, and Dennis Carolino for withholding details on what happened during Mayo’s arrest in October last year.
After almost six hours of hearing on the case, dela Rosa appealed to PNP officials to come clean and speak the truth for the betterment of the country.
“Baka iniisip ng mga batang ito nag power tripping tayo, wala yan sa bokabularyo namin hindi namin ginagamit yung power at di kami nagt-tripping kung ayaw niyo hindi kami magagalit sa inyo, manik luhod kami sa harap ninyo,” he said during the hearing the Senate committee hearing on public order and dangerous drugs, along with the committees on trade, commerce, and entrepreneurship.
(Maybe they think we’re power tripping, but that’s not in our vocabulary, we don’t use power. If you don’t want to cooperate, we will not be upset; instead, we’ll kneel before you)
“Ako luluhod ako ngayon please, oh sige, magsalita na kayo, maawa kayo sa Pilipinas, magluhod ako sa harapan ninyo magsabi na kayo ng totoo,” dela Rosa begged, while kneeling.
I am kneeling now, please, speak up, have mercy on the Philippines, and tell the truth.)
Dela Rosa reiterated that the Senate committee would only stop once the mastermind behind the case is identified.
After the hearing, he ordered the sergeant-at-arms to detain PNP’s Drug Enforcement Unit-Special Operations Unit 4-A head Capt. Jonathan Sosongco, along with Ibañez, Bayeta, Gular, Bugarin, Hassan, Kalaw, and Carolino, at the Senate detention facility.
Mayo has been detained at the Metro Manila District Jail since December 2022. Once released, Dela Rosa asked the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to call them so Mayo could be transferred to Senate custody.