Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa (left), Kerwin Espinosa (Facebook, Speaker’s office)



 

"Kapag nakita ko siya, suntukin ko siya sa mukha (If I see him, I'll punch him in the face)." 

This was Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa's message to Rolan “Kerwin” Espinosa, who disclosed before the House quad-committee (quad-comm) that the senator pressured him in 2016 to implicate former senator Leila de Lima in the illegal drug trade.  

Dela Rosa, the former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), blew his top when asked by reporters for his reaction to Kerwin Espinosa's claims. 

"Sobrang sinungaling siya," (He's extremely dishonest)," he told reporters in a phone interview on Friday, Oct. 11. 

Kung makapagsalita siya, akala mo kung sino siyang malinis. Bakit siya maggagawa-gawa ng istorya? Samantalang noon ang bait niya nung nasa kustodiya namin tapos ngayon kung ano ano pinagsasabi (The way he speaks, he thinks he's so clean. Why does he have to fabricate stories? Back then, he was so kind when she was in our custody, but now he's saying all sorts of things)," he added. 

Dela Rosa stated that he only spoke once to Espinosa when he asked him about Lieutenant Colonel Jovie Espenido. Other than that, he said that he never spoke to him again. 

Despite Espinosa's accusations, Dela Rosa said that he still won't attend the quad-comm hearing in the House of Representatives.

He added that he has nothing to gain from pinning both Peter Lim and De Lima, as claimed by Espinosa.

Dela Rosa also stated that Espinosa wasn't a credible witness. 

"In the first place he's a drug lord. Granting that his cases were dismissed, still, he remains to be a drug lord, he said. 

"Alam na alam ng mga tao yan. Kahit nakakulong siya doon sa NBI gumagana pa rin ang droga doon sa Albuera kasi siya pa rin nagpapatakbo (People are aware of this. Even when he was incarcerated at the NBI headquarters, it didn't stop the drug operation in Albuera since he was running it)," he added.