Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa fired back at Santa Rosa City lone district Rep. Dan Fernandez who claimed that the testimony of Police Col. Hector Grijaldo in the Senate drug war probe was all part of a “script”.
"It takes a thief to know a thief, 'di ba? Bilis niya nakapag-conclude siya na scripted yung affidavit ni Grialdo dahil ginagawa siguro nila yan sa doon quad-comm; yung paggawa ng script (He was immediately able to conclude that Grijaldo's affidavit is scripted perhaps because that's what they do there in the quad-comm; make scripts)," Dela Rosa told reporters in an interview on Wednesday, Oct. 30.
"Ang bilis niya makapag-conclude na scripted, baka nga ginagawa talaga nial yan sa quadcomm nila dahil ang bilis niya makapag-conclude (He concluded already that it's scripted, maybe they're actually doing that in the quadcomm because he was able to conclude that immediately)," he added.
During the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on Monday, Grijaldo tagged Fernandez and Manila 6th district Rep. Bienvenido “Benny” Abante Jr. for supposedly pressuring him to confirm the existence of a reward system during the previous administration’s war on drugs.
Grijaldo was the former police chief of Mandaluyong during the killing of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board secretary Wesley Barayuga.
On the other hand, Dela Rosa mentioned that despite calls from their counterparts in the House of Representatives for him and Senator Christopher "Bong" Go to inhibit from the Senate drug war probe, he would still attend future hearings.
For Fernandez, he expressed in a press briefing his belief that Grijaldo’s allegations against the quad-comm resulted from his mention of the name of Dela Rosa’s son during a past hearing of the mega-panel.
This in relation to the hearing on Oct. 22 when he was questioning Police Col. Bryan Andulan over the latter’s involvement in the assassination of Los Baños, Laguna mayor Caesar Perez.
During this exchange, Fernandez posited that Dela Rosa asked Andulan to keep an eye on his son, Police Lt. Rock Dela Rosa.
In a Facebook post a day after the hearing, Dela Rosa called out Fernandez for involving his son in the quad-comm discussions.
Fernandez denied Grijaldo’s allegations and explained that they only met him after he was identified by retired police colonel Royina Garma as someone who could confirm the reward system.
He also disclosed their plan to undertake legal action.