By Martin Sadongdong
Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Friday dared the United Nations Human Right Council (UNHRC) to prove the allegations of state-sponsored killings under the Duterte administration's war on drugs, and if they were able to do so, he will let them cut his head off.
Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa
(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
Dela Rosa, who graced the second founding anniversary of the Philippine National Police-Drug Enforcement Group (PNP-DEG) at Camp Crame, said he is open to the investigation that will be made by the UNHRC "because we have nothing to hide."
"Kung gusto nila, wala naman tayo tinatago kaya tama 'yan. Investigate kung anong gusto nilang malaman (If they want to, they can because we have nothing to hide. Let them investigate whatever they want to know," the tough-talking Dela Rosa told reporters.
"Come here and cut my head off if this is state-sponsored, 'yung alleged EJKs . Tapos ang usapan (The talk is over)," he added.
On Thursday, the UNHRC voted in Geneva to adopt a resolution which calls for a preliminary investigation that would assess the human rights situation in the Philippines amid the national government's war against illegal drugs. Eighteen countries, led by Iceland, voted in favor of the preliminary investigation.
However, the former PNP Chief said the UNHRC was "misled" by "people who only want to bring down the government."
According to their information, there were already 27,000 people killed in the war on drugs. According to real numbers from the PNP and Malacanang, there were only 6,000 deaths recorded. There is a big difference. So come here and you will realize that you were fooled by those who provided information to you," he said in Pilipino.
Considered as the "Father of Tokhang," Dela Rosa was the sitting PNP Chief when Oplan Tokhang was launched in July 2016. Operation Plan (Oplan) Tokhang was the flagship anti-illegal drug campaign of the Duterte government.
We admit that there were some abuses and the PNP does not condone that. That's why there were who were jailed, who were dismissed from service, there's a lot through our internal cleansing. If this is state-sponsored, why do we have to do our internal cleansing? Why do we arrest the policemen who did it if they were state-sponsored," Dela Rosa said in Pilipino.