Bato de la Rosa as new MSU president?

Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato’ dela Rosa INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA

Philippine National Police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa for President?

The police director general is President Rodrigo Duterte’s bet for president — not of the country but of Mindanao State University in the Islamic city of Marawi.

Dela Rosa, who is on top of the government’s antidrug campaign, himself found the idea absurd.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Dela Rosa told reporters that he and the President briefly discussed a local concern in Marawi City during a Monday cabinet meeting.

Dela Rosa started telling reporters about what he and Mr. Duterte discussed but stopped at “He wants me to…” and laughed.

Pressed by reporters, he sobered up and said in mixed Filipino and English, “We talked about the problem of squatting at Mindanao State University in Marawi City.”

“If possible,” Dela Rosa said, “he (Mr. Duterte) wants me to be president of Mindanao State University.”

The current MSU president is Maranao peace advocate Habib Macaayong, who was appointed last year by then President Benigno Aquino III. His six-year term won’t expire until March 2022.