Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa (left) and Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano (Facebook, PPAB)

Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa disputed the claim made by Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Joseph Stephen Paduano that he was present in a 2016 meeting with former president Rodrigo Duterte, who is being linked to extrajudicial killings (EJKs).

“It is very clear from the recorded video of that hearing that Cong. Paduano is very excited and very insistent of my alleged presence in that courtesy call despite repeated denials from all the resource persons,” Dela Rosa said in a statement on Sunday, Sept. 29.

During the Friday hearing of the House quad-committee (quad-comm), Paduano brought up the courtesy call made by police officers to Duterte in Davao City.

The meeting, which was supposedly attended by Dela Rosa—as newly-appointed Philippine National Police (PNP) chief—and now-Senator Bong Go, allegedly laid the groundwork for the “Davao template” in relation to EJKs during Duterte’s controversial war on drugs.

Paduano noted that weeks after the meeting, three Chinese drug lords were killed by inmates at the Davao Prison and Penal Farm (DPPF)

The drug lords were allegedly killed upon Duterte’s orders.

“The effort to wholesale former President Duterte, Sen. Bong Go and myself in one single stroke is very evident in his line of questioning,” said Dela Rosa.

“Again, I vehemently deny that I was a party to that courtesy call or meeting,” he stressed.

National Police Commission (Napolcom) Commissioner Edilberto Leonardo, who was tagged in the killing of the drug lords, said he could not recall seeing Dela Rosa in the meeting.

Retired police colonel Royina Garma, who testified that the meeting took place, also stated that she cannot remember seeing the senator in the said courtesy call.

Dela Rosa earlier said his inclusion in the ongoing hearing of the quad-comm is part of a “demolition job” that is meant to crush allies of Duterte ahead of the 2025 and 2028 elections.

The quad-comm is currently investigating the alleged connections between Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs), illegal drugs, and EJKs.