Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa clapped back at his “idol” Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, following the latter’s remark against him.
“My response to Cong Acop: You and me were both raised by the same academy. You and me both served the same branch of service. All I can say sir is: I am alright sir!” the senator said in a statement on Monday.
Dela Rosa and Acop are graduates of the Philippine Military Academy.
“I did not hide behind the skirt of my mother when I fought the terrorists and the insurgents with bullets flying all over, then why should I hide from somebody’s skirt now knowing that your words can not kill me?” Dela Rosa added.
On Sunday, Acop advised Dela Rosa to address the allegations hurled against him in connection with the previous administration’s bloody war on drugs, instead of hiding behind the skirt of Vice President Sara Duterte.
READ: Acop tells dela Rosa to stop ‘hiding behind Vice Pres. Sara Duterte’s skirt’
“Sen. Dela Rosa should be man enough to face the facts and take responsibility, instead of hiding behind VP Sara’s skirt,” he said.
It was in response to Dela Rosa’s remark last week against former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog’s testimony during the House quad committee hearing.
“This is a demolition job para masira kami lahat at hihina si Vice President Sara Duterte sa 2028. That’s a purely demolition job. Halata naman. Ano ba in the aid of legislation na makikita mo dyan? Wala naman akong nakikita. Matagal naman yung mga imbestigasyon na yan,” Dela Rosa said in an in interview last Friday.
READ: Dela Rosa to Mabilog: Name cop who warned you vs returning to PH
(This is a demolition job to destroy us all and weaken Vice President Sara Duterte in 2028. That’s a purely demolition job. It’s obvious. What is in the aid of legislation that you can see there? I don’t even see anything.)
But Acop countered this in the same statement on Sunday, saying there was no demolition job “but only legitimate questions that need clear answers.”
It was just last month when Dela Rosa called Acop his “idol” when he clarified that he was not alluding to him as among those “unprincipled” and “opportunistic” lawmakers who are attacking former President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs when they supported it before. Dela Rosa apologizes to Acop.
READ: Bato apologizes to ‘idol’ lawmaker