Bato admits police should have done internal cleansing first before drug war

Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and incumbent Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa has admitted that the administration's war on drugs should have come after rotten police officers first before pursuing drug offenders outside through Oplan Tokhang.

In episode 5 of the PumaPodcast series "Tokhang sa Tokhang", released on August 14 ahead of 17-year-old Kian Delos Santos' third death anniversary, Dela Rosa was asked what he would change in the game plan of the anti-illegal drugs campaign if he had to do it all over again.

"'Yung embarking the war on drugs right away, right away without ah cleaning our ranks first. Ang ginawa kasi namin is simultaneous. War on drugs against sa mga people na involved talaga sa droga. At the same time, dito sa mga tao sa gobyerno like mga pulis, mga pulitiko [na involved sa droga]. Sabay," Dela Rosa said.

"So, I think the best model should be pagka-declare namin, nilinis muna namin 'yung hanay namin. Then after that, banat sa labas. Internal cleansing muna, then external war. Internal war to external. Ang ginawa namin kasi sabay-sabay," he added.

The former PNP chief also acknowledged that some erring cops used the administration's war on drugs to advance their ill motives.

"Ang nangyari, medyo alam na natin talaga na may mga nangyari na sinasakyan ng mga loko-lokong mga sindikatong mga pulis at mga pulitiko 'yung ating war on drugs dahil nga na-involve din sila sa war on drugs. At the same time, they are involved in the drug syndicates," Dela Rosa said.

Though only a "small group" of rotten police and government officials are involved in hijacking the war on drugs, Dela Rosa said their activities have tainted the whole anti-illegal drugs campaign.

Dela Rosa said the PNP decided to simultaneously do the internal and external cleansing because the drug problem was so bad in 2016: "Banat kaagad kasi sobrang talamak talaga."

"Minarapat natin na sabay tayo, matamaan na 'yung matamaan basta sabay natin to maximize the impact of this war on drugs," he added.

'Bata pa rin 'yun, dapat 'di pinatay'

Roby Alampay from PumaPodcast said the interview with the senator was done in February 2020. It was part of the podcast episode released two days before the third death anniversary of Kian Delos Santos—a teenager shot to death in a police operation in Caloocan City on the night of August 16, 2017.

The cops claimed that they shot Kian for firing at them but CCTV footage showed that the senior high school student was being dragged by police.

He later tested negative for gunpowder nitrates.

In November 2018, three policemen involved in the slay case were convicted of murder. They were sentenced to reclusion perpetua "without eligibility of parole."

Dela Rosa was also asked in the podcast about his thoughts on Kian's death.

"Bata pa rin 'yun, dapat hindi pinatay. Galit na galit talaga ako noon. 'Di ko lubos maisip bakit ginawa ng mga pulis-Caloocan 'yun," he said.

"Bakit naman kasi pinatay? 'Yun ang mali doon pero pag sinabi natin na 'di involved 'yung bata, somehow na-involve siya, nagamit siya. Sorry to say that. Nasa langit na 'yung bata eh pero nagamit siya somehow doon sa drug trade na 'yun," Dela Rosa added. —KG, GMA News