Incoming PNP head Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa. JAYMEE T. GAMIL/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Incoming Philippine National Police (PNP) director Chief Supt. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa remains unfazed by the reported assassination threats against him and President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.
In an interview on ANC’s “Headstart” on Thursday, Dela Rosa said that the bounties for him and for Duterte had been raised from P10 million to P50 million because there were no takers.
“As of yesterday, they increased the bounty to P50 million. P50 million for Mayor Duterte, P50 million for me. In-increase nila dahil nahirapan daw silang maghanap ng takers (They increased it because they could not find any takers). No takers sa P10 million, so in-increase nila (so they increased it) to P50 million,” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa earlier claimed that the bounties were offered by drug lords incarcerated in the New Bilibid Prison.
READ: ‘Bring it on,’ says incoming PNP chief on ‘P10M bounty’ for him, Duterte
“Bring it on, really. Bring it on. O, mas Malaki (it has become bigger)—50 million. Okay, you come. Bring it on anytime—anytime of the day, any place,” he said.
The former Davao police chief, who served from January 2012 to October 2013, has shrugged off the threats against him, even joking that he is “not that handsome” to fear death.
“Am I that handsome that I would be afraid to die? I am not afraid to die,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
Dela Rosa vowed that with or without the P5 million bounty offered by Duterte for the death of drug lords, he would stamp out illegal drugs and criminality.
READ: Incoming PNP chief vows ‘violent’ crackdown on drug lords
“May P5-million reward o wala, ang mga drug lord na iyan mamamatay talaga iyan kapag lumaban sila kahit walang P5 million (Whether there is a P5-million reward or not, those drug lords will be killed if they fight),” he said in a separate Radyo Inquirer interview.
The President-elect first broached the idea of a P5 million bounty for the killing of a drug lord during his thanksgiving party in Davao City last week.
“Ang bayad ko ngayon, ‘pag drug lord, mag-announce na ‘ko, P5 million ‘pag patay. Kung buhay, P4 million 999 thousand lang,” Duterte told a crowd of around 500,000 people during his victory party at the Crocodile Park.
(If you kill a drug lord, you will receive P5 million. If a drug lord is arrested alive, the informant receives just P4,999,000.)
He also said that he would offer millions of pesos worth of bounty to anyone who could kill or arrest drug traffickers. IDL/rga