Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato’ dela Rosa
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
If the police investigating body finds that Supt. Marvin Marcos and his team should be dismissed for the murder of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa would be willing to stand by the Internal Affairs Service (IAS) and its decision.
This was after President Duterte assured Marcos and other members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Eastern Visayas that they should not worry about being convicted for murder because he would grant them absolute pardon.
Duterte said he would also promote them for eliminating Espinosa, whose son is tagged as the biggest drug lord in the region.
“But I tell the police now. Basta sinunod lang ninyo o ‘yung pinatay nitong mga p***** inang ito (If you just followed my order and killed this son of a b***h). Why do you grieve for a son of a b***h? He destroyed half of the Visayas,” Duterte said in a speech last Friday.
Asked if he would be willing to counter the President and support the IAS in dismissing Marcos and others from service, Dela Rosa, in a press conference at Camp Crame on Monday, said: “Yes, yes.”
But the police chief said it is not Duterte’s habit to meddle with the internal decisions of the PNP.
“Ayaw niya kami pakialamanan. As I have said, hindi siya nagma-micromanage sa amin,” he said.
(He doesn’t want to meddle in the PNP. As I have said, he’s not micromanaging us.)
He later explained Duterte’s assurance to Marcos, saying that the President just wants to protect the policemen who are doing their job as law enforcers.
“Basta sa kanya lang mayroon siyang intention na kung ito ay ma-convict, ipa-pardon niya dahil nagtatrabaho lang ang mga pulis na ito (For him, he has an intention where if a person is convicted, he’ll pardon him because he’s just doing his job as a police). This is in line with their duty,” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa said he sees “no conflict” about the fact that the President “grants pardon to the people that he believes are just performing their duty and following his instructions.”
In his speech, Duterte said he cannot abandon the cops involved in Espinosa’s killing because “they just followed my order.”
Marcos, head of the CIDG Eastern Visayas, led a group of 17 men and raided Espinosa’s cell in Baybay, Leyte to serve a search warrant. Marcos’ camp claims Espinosa opened fire at the cops, prompting them to shoot him and another inmate last Nov. 5
A National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) found that the operation was a “rubout.” JE/rga