Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa presides over the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs hearing in the Senate in this file photo taken on November 29, 2023. Senate PRIB photo / Joseph Vidal
MANILA, Philippines – Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, who used to head the Philippine National Police, sees the possibility of “failure of intelligence” in the deadly bombing in Mindanao State University.
“Well, pwedeng merong failure of intelligence dahil nga hindi namonitor ‘di ba? Kung namonitor man nila, failure to act on the intelligence. Ganon naman talaga ang mangyayari dyan,” dela Rosa told reporters in a briefing on Monday afternoon.
(Well, there could be a failure of intelligence because it wasn’t monitored, right? Even if they monitored that, failure to act on the intelligence. That’s exactly what will happen there.)
Dela Rosa, however, defended Philippine security agencies, stressing that terrorists operate in sly and cunning manner.
“But then again, kahit naman sabihin na, as I’ve said — kahit anong effort ang gawin ng gobyerno, ng security forces, and everyone involved — even ng citizens – kapag meron talagang plano o deliberate attack na gagawin ay maghahanap sila ng tiyansa na mababa ang guards mo saka sila titira,” he said.
(But then again, even if we say that, as I’ve said – no matter what effort is made by the government, the security forces, and everyone involved – even the citizens – when there is really a plan or a deliberate attack to be made, they will find chances and attack when your guards are down.)
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“That’s how terrorism occurs. That’s how terrorists operate,” he added.
The former PNP chief then noted that it would be unfair to hold security forces accountable for this supposed failure of intelligence even if the attack was really under the radar.
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Dela Rosa then advised the PNP to use its resources, skills, and talent to solve the case, identify, and arrest the suspects behind the heinous act.
“[We need to] make sure that nothing of the same nature will happen in the future,” he added.
The recent bombing blasted through Dimaporo Gym inside the Mindanao State University in Marawi on Sunday, killing four individuals and leaving 50 people wounded.