Former vice presidential spokesman Barry Gutierrez echoed the call of a senior lawmaker for Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa to show evidence that would refute the findings of the House quad committee on the Duterte administration’s war on drugs campaign.
Senator Ronald 'Bato' Dela Rosa and former vice presidential spokesman Barry Gutierrez (Photos from Senate, OVP via Facebook)
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), the ex-Office of the Vice President (OVP) spokesman agreed with Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop’s statement challenging the senator not to resort to “emotional outbursts and theatrics.”
“Tama naman. Ebidensiya hindi drama (That’s correct. We need evidence, and not drama),” Gutierrez, a former lawmaker, wrote as he shared a news report.
“This has always been Dela Rosa's gimmick: kapag nasingil, dadaanin bigla sa palabas at iyak-iyak (when held accountable, he would resort to drama and tears). It's high time someone called him out on it,” he added.
Dela Rosa rebuffed the quad committee’s findings that showed the Duterte administration’s war against drugs campaign purportedly served as a cover for a “grand criminal enterprise” in which the former president and his inner circle allegedly benefited from.
Acop was the vice chair of the House quad committee that held 13 public hearings, none of which Dela Rosa attended.
The senator, however, challenged Acop to stand with him before a Church altar to see who was telling the truth.
But Acop described Dela Rosa’s accusations as baseless unless the senator can present evidence or proof, and even reprimanded him for invoking religion “to avoid accountability.”
He also criticized Dela Rosa’s behavior against a member of the upper class at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), from which they both graduated, and reminded him of the tradition of respect within the military institution.
Acop was part of the PMA’s 1970 Magiting class, while Dela Rosa was from the 1986 Sinagtala class.