Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Tuesday urged President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to continue the war on drugs carried out by the outgoing Duterte administration.
“Talagang irerekomenda ko sa kanya (President-elect Marcos Jr.) na ipagpatuloy niya para hindi masayang ‘yung six years na ginawa natin, ni Pangulong Duterte. Tuloy-tuloy na ‘yan dapat (I would really recommend it to him that he pursue it so whatever gains we had during the six years would not go to waste. That should continue),” Dela Rosa said in a radio interview.
Nevertheless, Dela Rosa said he believes adjustments are needed to prevent and avoid the issues raised by critics about the implementation of the program, whether these are deliberate or otherwise.
As far as he is concerned, the former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and chief implementer of the so-called “Oplan Tokhang,” said Duterte’s anti-illegal drugs operation was effective but there have been abuses that happened.
“Well, nakita naman natin na epektibo ‘yung ginawa ni Pangulong Duterte pero hindi rin natin maipagkakaila na mayroon ding mga pang-aabuso na nangyayari (We see that what President Duterte did was effective but we cannot deny that there some abuses committed),” he pointed out.
“Mayroon talagang nangyayaring hindi maganda kaya gano’n pa rin dapat ang approach pero may mga minor modification para maiwasan natin ‘yung violation ng human rights at tsaka ‘yung mga involvement ng mga law enforcer sa kalokohan (There were really some things that happened negatively, so the approach should be the same but there must be minor modification so we can avoid human rights violations and the involvement of law enforcers in the abuses),” he pointed out.
Nevertheless, he said he believes President Duterte’s war on drugs campaign is an effective and successful program against illegal drugs.
That is why he said it is imperative that the next PNP Chief and President-elect Marcos should share a common and deep understanding of the illegal drug problem and agree on how to combat and eradicate the drug menace.
“First and foremost... ‘yung Chief Executive ay dapat pareho sila ng pag-iisip ng kanyang i-a-appoint na Chief-PNP. Otherwise, kung magkaiba ‘yung kanilang pananaw sa problema sa droga at ‘yung approach kung paano i-counter itong problema ng droga, ay, (the Chief Executive and the Chief PNP he will appoint should have one mind. Otherwise, if they have a different view on the drug problem and a different approach on how to deal with the drug problem), they are bound to fail,” Dela Rosa warned.