Incoming PNP chief to criminals: ‘We’ll crush you and bury you’
Chief Superintendent Ronald dela Rosa. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO/JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS
THE presumptive Philippine National Police chief has a strong message to criminals: We will crush you and we will bury you.
Not mincing words, Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa, the police official presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte chose to lead the 160,000-police force under his administration, gave lawless individuals a warning before he officially takes over the highest PNP post.
“Hindi lang crush. We will bury you. Ililibing ko kayo,” he said in an interview at Camp Crame on Wednesday.
Duterte picked his fellow Davaoeño dela Rosa, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Sinagtala Class of 1986, to replace PNP chief Director General Ricardo Marquez of PMA Class ’82 when he assumes the presidency at noon of June 30. Dela Rosa also served as the chief of the Davao City Police.
“Hindi ko sila tinatakot. I’m speaking my mind. Gano’n tayo ka-seryoso kasi ‘yung pinaka centerpiece ng Duterte administration ay sa peace and order, sa [pagsugpo sa] drugs—siguruhin tapusin yung drugs,” he said.
He also clarified Duterte’s shoot-to-kill order to the police, saying that the mayor’s reason for issuing the order is for lawmen to defend themselves from dangerous criminals violently resisting or escaping arrests.
“Ang basis naman doon kapag lumaban at na-endanger ‘yung life mo, kailangan patayin mo sila para self-defense. Eh ‘di gusto mo ikaw mamatay? Kung ikaw pulis, patayin mo kriminal para hindi ka mapatay, hindi ba?” he explained.
When asked if he is in favor of extrajudicial killings, dela Rosa said: “ No, I don’t like that.”
As a mayor of Davao City, Duterte has admitted his involvement in the so-called Davao Death Squad, a vigilante group allegedly responsible for summary killings in the city. Some of the killings allegedly committed by the vigilante group were cases of mistaken identity. The youngest victim of the death squad was a 12-year-old boy.
