Bato to Ping: Thanks, but we won’t lose cool at Senate probe

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa appreciated the advice given to them by their former “boss” Sen. Panfilo Lacson before their appearance at the Senate.

Dela Rosa thanked the former PNP chief after the senator told them not to lose cool when they face the Senate inquiry on the rising number of extrajudicial killings and summary executions of suspected criminals as part of the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

The PNP chief is confident to face “open-heartedly” the senators, including administration critic former Justice secretary and now Sen. Leila de Lima who filed the resolution for the inquiry.

READ: De Lima files Senate resolution to probe extrajudicial killings

“Nakahanda po kami wala kaming itatago. We will go there to the Senate with open hearts.  Our hearts are clean, not tainted wala kaming dapat itago hindi kami magpa-panic,” Dela Rosa said before his meeting with the regional directors on Tuesday at Camp Crame.

In an ambush interview yesterday, Lacson told the PNP leadership not to lose their cool and not to panic when the senators grill them on Aug. 22 and 23.

He added that Dela Rosa and others should be careful when answering questions to avoid deviating from the truth.

“We will never lose our cool unless bastusin kami doon (Senate),” Dela Rosa said. The PNP chief was once a commander of a task force in Mindanao of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force then headed by Lacson.

READ: Entire PNP to file SALNs anew for financial investigation

“Kilala naman niya (Lacson) ako, very cool ako na tao, very hot naman against enemies,” he added.

The PNP chief also said he would not mind the way the senators ask questions, while Lacson reminded his colleagues to go easy on the uniformed men.

“Hindi naman nila kami kailangan sindakin para lumabas ang katotohanan.  ‘Yung pagpunta pa lang namin sa Senado is a sign we are true to our words and deeds,” Dela Rosa said.

“’[W]ag sila mag-alala ilalabas namin lahat, lahat ng gusto nilang malaman sasabihin namin.”

Dela Rosa stressed that they would be firm with their drive to clean the country from drugs and insisted that they would do what the administration promised to the public.

READ: PNP won’t beef up Bato’s security despite ISIS ‘threat’

“Kahit anong imbestigasyon ang dumating haharapin namin. We are determined to finish this oath within six months we are determined to finish this.”

De Lima, a former chair of the Commission on Human Rights, filed Senate Resolution 9 to toughen the accountability of law enforcers in handling crimes over the rising number of extrajudicial or summary killings.