Dela Rosa dared to face House probe, stop “hiding behind media”

National

SENATOR Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa, who continues to elude the probe on the drug war of the previous administration, has been challenged by a lawmaker to face the House Quad Committee and answer all the questions on his involvement in the bloody drug war.

Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante said they keep on asking the senator to face the panel to clarify the extent of his participation in the drug war campaign of former President Rodrigo Duterte that killed thousands of people.

But instead of answering the committee, Abante said Dela Rosa has been hiding behind the media.

“He goes to the media, where he yaps,” Abante said during this opening statement on the quad committee’s first hearing this year on Tuesday, January 21.

Dela Rosa was the chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) under the Duterte administration.

Data from the government shows that over 7,000 people have perished during the said intensified anti-drug campaign.

Last year, the quad com recommended the filing of charges against President Rodrigo Duterte, Dela Rosa, Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go and other police officials for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 9851 or the Crimes Against International Humanitarian Law, Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity.

The recommendation stemmed from the alleged extrajudicial killings that happened during Duterte’s administration.

Former PNP chiefs Debold Sinas and Oscar David Albayalde, and retired Colonels Royina Garma and Edilberto Leonardo were also tagged as “key elements” in the blood war on drugs.

Quadcom Chair Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace Barbers also believed that the former president should assume “full legal responsibility” for the bloody drug war.(LAO)