BATONG GAWA SA KAHOY. A beaming Director-General Ronald Dela Rosa receives a wooden sculpture of his likeness dressed as an Ifugao warrior on Friday (Oct. 6) during the 116th Police Service Anniversary program held at Camp Bado Dangwa in La Trinidad, Benguet. The chief of the Philippine National Police was greeted by police officers dressed in g-strings and head gear. Photo by EV ESPIRITU
CAMP DANGWA, Benguet — The country’s top policeman is now “Mulingan,” son of the Cordillera.
Following a traditional Ibaloy ritual on Friday, elders adopted Director General Ronald dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police, as a member of the Cordillera family, and gave him the name of a hard stone that was used to make weapons and other tools centuries ago.
Dela Rosa, known as “Bato,” was here to participate in the 116th police service anniversary program organized by the Cordillera police.
His adoption was based on a resolution passed by the Cordillera Regional Development Council last September in Apayao province.
Dela Rosa commended the Cordillera police for their “drug cleansing operations.”
The region’s provinces of Apayao, Ifugao and Mountain Province have been declared “drug free.”
The region also has the lowest number of drug-affected villages in the country. —Karlston Lapniten