Bato vows to go after rogue cops

Amid the controversies surrounding the killing of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo in the hands of policemen, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. Gen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa on Thursday vowed to rid the institution of “scalawags” or rogue cops.

“We will form a very strong counter-intelligence unit to monitor these erring policemen before they even commit crimes,” Dela Rosa said during the Senate probe on alleged “tokhang for ransom” cases, when asked what  the PNP would do to prevent similar incidents.

Dela Rosa said he would prioritize the prosecution of policemen involved in such cases, which Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre called an “isolated incident.”

“This is one step higher in our war on drugs, the cleansing of PNP,” Dela Rosa said.

But the PNP chief admitted that kidnap for ransom cases might have been happening even before he assumed his post.

“My presumption is before pa ako chief PNP ay ginagawa na nila ito (they had already been doing this)… We are suspecting right now that may be there are cases of the same nature that have been happening before. As of now we are focused on this case,” he said.

Jee was kidnapped from his home in Angeles, Pampanga last October 18, 2016 by policemen allegedly led by SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel of the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs group. It was later revealed that the businessman was killed inside the police headquarters in Camp Crame the same day he was abducted. CDG/rga

READ: Lacson: Killers of Korean trader ruined PNP

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