Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines— “My conscience is clear”, Sen. Ronaldo “Bato” Dela Rosa repeatedly said on Wednesday regarding his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
Contrary to claims by some members of the House of Representatives, Dela Rosa said there was no evidence that would directly link him to alleged killings.
He said his only brainchild when he was the head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) was the “Oplan Tokhang” or the knock-and-plead program.
“Hindi ako bothered, hindi ako bothered talaga dahil malinis ang konsensya ko. Wala akong pangangamba,” dela Rosa said in a phone interview with Senate reporters
(I’m not bothered; I’m really not bothered because my conscience is clear. I have no worries)
“I’m am not connected in any way. Siguro in my official capacity as the chief PNP pero hindi ko mamonitor lahat ng kapulisan for 24/7 kung ano ginagawa nilang lahat,” dela Rosa said.
(I’m not connected in any way. Maybe in my official capacity as the chief of the PNP, but I can’t monitor all the police officers 24/7 as to what they are doing.)
“Yun lang siguro command responsibility as the chief PNP pero kung sabihin mo na may direct hand ako kung ano ginagawa o anong nangyari, I don’t think so na mali-link nila ako,” he added.
(That’s probably just command responsibility as the chief of the PNP, but if you say I have a direct hand in what they are doing or what happened, I don’t think they can link me to that.)
He said his name was not even mentioned in the affidavit of retired Police Col. Royina Garma who disclosed in a House of Representatives probe then President Rodrigo Duterte’s alleged order to implement a war on drugs similar to the “Davao model.”
This involved a cash reward system for every drug suspect killed, Garma told the House of Representatives quad-committee.
In the same House probe, however, Dela Rosa has been accused of protecting personalities linked to illegal drugs like the late Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and his son Kerwin Espinosa when the senator was still PNP chief.
Kerwin later claimed in the hearings that it was also Dela Rosa who ordered him to implicate former Sen. Leila de Lima and Peter Lim in the illegal drug trade.
Dela Rosa vehemently denied all the allegations.
“My conscience is very clear. Wala akong ginawang kalokohan (I didn’t do anything foolish),” Dela Rosa said.
If indeed the cash reward system existed during his time, he said it must have been done on a “very secretive manner.”
“But honestly, if there is anything like that, I was not involved. But if you ask me whether it exists, I can’t say that it does because, to my knowledge, it really doesn’t exist—at least not to my knowledge,” he pointed out in Filipino.