Emotional PNP Chief Ronald Dela Rosa during the Senate probe. PDI FILE PHOTO/RICHARD REYES
Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Tuesday he would ask again the “controversial question” that made Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronaldo “Bato” Dela Rosa cry during a Senate hearing in 2016.
“As a matter of fact ako nga ang nagpaiyak kay Bato e. Ano ba tanong ko kay Bato sabi ko ikaw na lang ata ang maaasahan natin at mapagtitiwalaan natin na pulis dito sa buong police force, ano bang gagawin, ano bang pwede mong magawa para gumanda naman ang imahe ng buong police force?” Zubiri said in an ambush interview at the Senate.
“Remember I asked that controversial question that made Bato cry and so i am going to ask the same question when he comes back on Thursday,” the senator added.
On Nov. 23 last year, Dela Rosa broke down into tears during a Senate hearing, as he lamented the “loss of the public trust and the difficulty of fighting illegal drugs in the country.”
READ: Frustrated ‘Bato’ turns emotional, but vows to reform PNP
On Thursday, the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs would conduct a hearing on the possible accountability of the PNP in the killing of the 17-year-old Kian delos Santos during a drug raid in Caloocan City last week.
Zubiri, who also condemned the recent killings of drug suspects in the country, said he would ask Dela Rosa what he had done since to clean the ranks of the police.
“What have you done since then because it looks like nothing has happen, no cases have been filed,” the senator said of Dela Rosa.
Zubiri said he was glad that President Rodrigo Duterte’s made a vow that he would not tolerate abusive cops during a press conference on Monday night.
“I am actually very happy with the statement last night for him to say what he said last night is a step forward to the right direction which is basically he will not tolerate the shenanigans of the police and if proven that the law was broken that he will jail this erring policemen that are part of the operations of the Caloocan,” the senator said.
READ: Duterte vows to punish cops in Kian killing if proven guilty
Zubiri also pointed out that while the PNP should defend themselves during drug raids, they should also be warned of the “monsters” they would become if they violate the due process.
“They should defend themselves and I agree they should defend themselves but we should also be very careful that we might create monsters within their rank na hindi na pwedeng pagsabihan ng kanilang mga commanders to slow down and to use due process kasi nakatikim na, parang aso yan e kapag nakakagat ng tao, nakatikim na ng dugo ng tao yan hindi na mapapalitan yung isipan ng aso,” the senator said.
“So pwede ring mangyari yan once they tasted blood you know we might be creating monster. So we are hoping we could put some brakes to this and the hierarchy of the PNP to do the necessary cleanup if you may say, or the necessary weeding up of this bad elements from the organization,” he added.
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