Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato’ dela Rosa
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
The terrorist Maute group has had links and has been protecting drug lords since last year, Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa confirmed on Monday.
“Even before July 1, when I assumed my post and announced that drug lords should surrender, we received information that majority of drug lords here in Metro Manila, Luzon and Visayas went to Marawi to hold a ‘drug summit,’” Dela Rosa said.
“They were protected by the Maute group and narcopoliticians,” the police chief said during a briefing at the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Dela Rosa made the revelation to support the claim of President Duterte that “illegal drug money” was being used to provide “financial and logistical support” to the Maute group.
Mr. Duterte also made the claim in his report to Congress explaining his declaration of martial law in Mindanao.
Dela Rosa said there was “mutual” protection and support between the Maute group and narcopoliticians. “They are all subject to our operations in this martial law period,” Dela Rosa said.
But Dela Rosa could not confirm Mr. Duterte’s claim that the siege was in retaliation for a government raid on a drug laboratory owned by the father of Maute group leaders, brothers Omar and Abdullah Maute.
“We’ll check that,” Dela Rosa said as he denied Mr. Duterte’s earlier claim that the Maute brothers were former policemen in Manila dealing in drugs.
“They’re not policemen. They just pretended to be to protect drug lords. That may be why the President said that,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino.
Dela Rosa said he could not give details about operational matters “but we suffered casualties: fatalities and injuries.”
“I just advised [police in] all regions across the Philippines to prepare public safety forces to reinforce Marawi when needed.
“But right now, those providing reinforcement [in Marawi] are police public safety units of Regions 10 and 12. Most of the operating battalions of the Special Action Force are also there,” Dela Rosa said.
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