Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. —Photo screengrab from House of Representatives YouTube livestream
MANILA, Philippines — Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. has asked if Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, the first Philippine National Police (PNP) chief of the past administration who implemented the drug war, understands what the phrase ‘shit happens’ means.
Abante raised this question on Tuesday, in a press briefing at the Batasang Pambansa complex, after Dela Rosa’s controversial phrase was brought up again during the Senate blue ribbon committee hearing a day before.
In the Senate hearing on the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the drug war, Dela Rosa justified his use of this phrase when three-year-old child Myca Ulpina died during PNP’s anti-drug operation in Rodriguez, Rizal, last July 2019.
READ: Shit happens, Bato says after a child got killed in drug bust
“How many drug pushers were killed, those who were really poor, more than 7,000. How many drug users who should be rehabilitated, not be killed, died during operations? There are 440 people. Now, is that mere collateral damage? Is this what Senator Bato says refers to as ‘shit happens’?” Abante asked.
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“What a life is this if this is the case. What does the term ‘shit’ mean? Maybe he does not know the meaning of the term ‘shit’ as an American expression? That’s a curse word, right? Shit happens. But is that just it? So does this mean, nobody should be held accountable for this?” the lawmaker asked again.
Different dictionaries online define the term ‘shit happens’ as an unfortunate incident that can be considered unpreventable and part of life. Other definitions which emanated from the younger years of social media and memes—like one entry from the Urban Dictionary—often point to lack of care for what happens, and a call to move on with life.
At the Senate hearing, Catholic priest Flavie Villanueva talked about how Dela Rosa described Ulpina’s death as “shit happens”—which Villanueva said was saddening.
But for Dela Rosa, he blurted out the term “shit happens” because he was blaming himself as he was the PNP chief during that time.
“Shit happens. That’s what happened, the child was hit, and died. Really for me, shit happens. It happened. So what’s the fuss about blaming ourselves? I said what happened. The operation was not perfect, you cannot control the environment, a child was hit. So what would I call that, perfection happens?” Dela Rosa asked.
“There’s no perfect operation. Sometimes shit happens, that’s what I said, but that does not mean to degrade the soul, the departed soul of that child,” he added.
According to Dela Rosa, the problem is with how Villanueva interpreted his words.
“The problem with you Father, you are trying to capitalize my words for propaganda purposes. That’s very bad, Father, that’s bad, you do not take the word out of context so that you can propagandize an issue. I said shit happens because I am blaming myself as the chief, PNP. What happened shouldn’t have happened,” he added.
Villanueva however said that it is not in his nature to bloat the truth.
“It’s not in my vocabulary to bloat the truth and to do propaganda. I did this because before there was even killings during the past administration, we have an area called Kalinga, where we give baths, send children to school, and feed the homeless,” Villanueva said.
“That was 2015. But when 2016 started, and came in, because those who were killed were breadwinners, I was already thinking in advance about the (killings’) impact on families left behind,” he added.
The Senate blue ribbon panel started its investigation on the drug war after dela Rosa and Senator Bong Go filed resolutions on the matter. The probe came after several revelations made during the House of Representatives’ quad committee hearings, like retired police colonel Royina Garma’s claims that a rewards system in the drug war, where cops who kill drug suspects are given money, exists.
During the hearings of the quad committee, Garma also admitted that the so-called Davao Death Squad exists, and that it was common knowledge among police officials in Davao City.