Where have you gone, Bato?

Director General Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, PNP chief (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Philippine National Police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa made his first public appearance since June 2 and claimed he had kept away from the public eye because of “special operations.”

“We have to be quiet about it. It is terrorism-related. I do not need to give out details,” Dela Rosa told reporters at the launch of the PNP’s “Mission Slimpossible” project.

Dela Rosa was last seen in public at Resorts World Manila  before dawn of June 2 when a debt-ridden former government employee torched parts of the casino.

He has not been at his office in the PNP’s Camp Crame headquarters in Quezon City the past few days and PNP officials could only surmise that he was in Mindanao.

He was also noticeably absent at the traditional Independence Day celebration at Camp Crame and his message was read for him by Deputy Director General Fernando Mendez Jr., the PNP deputy chief for operations.

When he did make an appearance at the PNP activity on Tuesday, Dela Rosa spoke about intelligence matters.

He clarified that while the intelligence community had information that the Maute group was up to something, officials had no idea what it was .

Dela Rosa said he and other security officials would not have gone to Russia with President Duterte if they did.