Bato dela Rosa: No regrets recommending Albayalde as PNP chief despite past haunting him

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Tuesday said he never regretted recommending the appointment of resigned Philippine National Police chief Oscar Albayalde, even if the latter ended up getting embroiled in the "ninja cops" controversy.

Dela Rosa also said that Albayalde had assured him that he did not betray the confidence of the senator, who pushed for President Rodrigo Duterte's appointment of him as the next PNP chief in 2018.

“During the heat of the Senate hearing, nag-usap kami and he told me, ‘Mistah, I didn’t betray your confidence,’ ‘yun lang sabi niya, ‘Hindi kita pinapahiya, bok',” he said in an interview on ANC.

Dela Rosa and Albayalde are both members of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1986.

Albayalde earlier appeared before the Senate Blue Ribbon and Justice committees in connection with the botched drug operation in 2013 conducted by some Pampanga police officers.

Dela Rosa said he was aware of the 2013 incident but that did not stop him from recommending Albayalde because no case had been filed against the latter and he performed well during his term as National Capital Region Police office chief.

“Why would I regret? Nakita mo naman ang performance, in fairness to General Albayalde, when he was NCRPO chief at naging chief PNP. He performed very well,” he said.

“Alam ko na na-relieve siya because of command responsibility dahil ‘yung mga tao niya na-involved. ‘Yung agaw bato alam ko na nangyari ‘yan but wala namang pinayl na kaso sa kanya so it didn’t hamper me, it didn’t hinder me from appointing him as NCRPO chief dahil wala siyang pending case.  Alam ko involved ang mga tao niya, na relieved but wala namang kaso na na-file sa kanya so as far as I am concern, he was clean,” he added.

Despite ascending to the highest PNP post, Albayalde just happened to have been hit with bad luck, Dela Rosa said.

“He was haunted by his past so ‘yun nga ang nangyari sa kanya ngayon kaya siya minalas dahil nga sa past,” he said.

Dela Rosa, however, said Albayalde would have been in the wrong if he indeed defended the so-called ninja cops and tried influencing the outcome of their dismissal. This, however, has yet to be proven in court, the senator added.

“That was wrong kung tinulungan mo alam mo yung gravity ng kanilang offense (but) still that remains to be seen kung anong mangyari diyan sa korte dahil, so far, ngayon yung testimonies na sinasabi puro hearsay,” he said.

“Hindi ko masabi agad na guilty kasi Senate hearing lang ‘yan, dun sa korte magsabi kung guilty. I-file ang kaso kung gusto magfile ng kaso,” he added. — MDM, GMA News