Shoot them dead? Bato says cops deserve due process

MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa laughed off the recent pronouncement of former president Rodrigo Duterte to “shoot dead” police officers involved in the drug trade, knowing his former boss’ propensity for “kill” remarks and rhetoric.

“He said that out of frustration,” Dela Rosa told “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV’s One News channel, adding that people are aware Duterte could not just order the execution of dirty cops.

Duterte’s tirades even mentioned Dela Rosa’s handling of the Senate committee’s investigation into the alleged cover-up of the arrest of a Manila policeman from whom nearly a ton of shabu worth P6.7 billion was seized last year.

Dela Rosa said Duterte was merely venting his frustration over some police officers who are not just members of drug syndicates, but have become drug lords themselves.

“They are protectors of these Chinese drug lords. The problem is sometimes they are the drug lords,” Dela Rosa said in the interview.

The senator said he hopes the police officers he investigated over the mess uncovered in the shabu haul could thoroughly explain their side to the Office of the Ombudsman.

Early this week, multiple charges have been filed against 50 members of the Philippine National Police (PNP), including two generals, before the Ombudsman for their involvement in that operation.

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa said he does not intend to add to his legal troubles, after being included as a respondent in the crimes against humanity complaint lodged against Duterte before the International Criminal Court.

As Duterte’s former PNP chief who started his administration’s “war on drugs,” Dela Rosa is also being held responsible for the deaths of mostly poor drug suspects who were killed in various encounters with police.

The Philippines, though, through the Office of the Solicitor General has rejected the ICC’s probe, questioning its jurisdiction since Manila has already pulled out of the Rome Statute.