Duterte taps Dela Rosa as next PNP chief

Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa of PMA class of ’86. JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net

DAVAO CITY—Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has picked Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa as the next Philippine National Police director general.

Christopher Go, Duterte’s executive assistant, told reporters here Wednesday about the appointment of Dela Rosa as the next PNP chief.

Incumbent PNP Director General Ricardo Marquez has said he will submit his formal resignation when Duterte assumes the presidency on June 30.

Dela Rosa will only be serving for just 11 months as PNP chief as he will be retiring in May 2017.

Dela Rosa, who was city police chief from 2011 to 2013, is a member of Class 1986 of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and has earned the trust of Duterte through his hardworking style.

He was largely credited for the drastic reduction in the volume of shabu in the city when he implemented Oplan Tukhang (Tuktok-Hangyo), which saw police authorities knocking on the doors of suspected drug pushers and asking them to stop their illicit trade.

During his time as city police chief, several suspected drug pushers were killed while violently resisting arrest, according to police reports.

“I would have wanted to accomplish a drug-less society where there is zero drug use but this is almost impossible,” Dela Rosa once said.

Dela Rosa was also the city police chief when three suspected kidnappers of a Quezon City-based Chinese businesswoman were killed during a shootout here in July 2013.

Known to be a disciplinarian, he has repeatedly told policemen that “the force has no room for cowards and lazy ones.”

Dela Rosa also implemented an anti-gangsterism campaign.

After his stint as city police director, Dela Rosa went from one assignment to another. He also became a member of the PNP Board of Inquiry, which investigated the Mamasapano encounter, which claimed the lives of 44 Special Action Force commandos, 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front members and five civilians while the cops were on a mission to arrest international terrorist Zulkifli Bin Hir, alias Marwan.

Prior to the May 9 elections, Dela Rosa was relieved as commander of the PNP’s Reactionary Standby Support Force RSSF due to his alleged Facebook post, which was supposed to be pro-Duterte.  SFM

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