Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa is expected to confront the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) official who claimed that a former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief was on the payroll of illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) bosses.

"You can expect that. You can expect that to happen," Dela Rosa said in a radio interview over DWIZ on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The continuation of the Senate hearing on illegal POGOs will continue and is expected to close on Tuesday, Sept. 24.

In the previous hearing, Pagcor Senior Vice President Raul Villanueva tagged a former PNP chief as among the senior law enforcement officers who were allegedly on the “monthly payroll” of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo.

Villanueva, however, said they are validating the information they got from the intelligence community. 

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa once again addressed the claims made by former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog in his testimony before the House quad-committee (quad-comm).

"Ako, sabihin ko lang, my life is an open book. Alam nila anong pinaggagawa ko at never ako nagsisinungaling. Hindi ako magsisinungaling, dahil siguro kung iba dyan ay nasanay magsinungaling. Ako kahit anak lang ako ng mahirap, ay ayaw na ayaw ko magsinungaling (To be honest, my life is an open book. They know what I've been through, and I never lie. I'm not one to lie, unlike some people who may be used to deceiving others. Even though I'm just a child from a poor family, I absolutely detest lying)," he said. 

"Kasalanan yan sa Diyos. Kaya, yun lang ang masasabi ko. Alam naman ng taong bayan kung what’s real score. So, sana huwag tayo magpapaloko dyan sa mga propaganda na yan dahil eleksyon na naman (That's a sin against God. That's all I can say. The people know the real score. So, let's not be deceived by those propaganda tactics again, especially now that it's election season)," he added.

Dela Rosa stated in an earlier interview that Mabilog's claims were part of a demolition job.
 

PDP-Laban Senate slate

In another development, Dela Rosa, along with Senator Bong Go and actor Philip Salvador, has officially been nominated as senatorial bets of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) for the May 2025 polls on Friday, Sept. 20.

Both Go and Dela Rosa are up for reelection in 2025.

During the event, Dela Rosa said that he already decided in favor of reelection even before the allegations related to the previous administration's drug war came out.

"Lalong-lalo na ngayon na halos araw-araw, kung makita niyo diyan sa quad-committee ng House of Representatives, araw-araw binubugbog tayo. Hindi ako papayag. Hindi ako papayag nabubugbugin na lang nila forever (It's even worse now, almost every day, if you look at the quad-committee of the House of Representatives, we're being beaten up daily. I won't allow it. I won't allow them to bully us forever)," he said.