Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has denied ordering Police Col. Jovie Espenido to kill illegal drug users in Albuera, Leyte.
Dela Rosa pointed this out in an ambush interview, saying he sees nothing wrong with telling Espenido put a stop to the illegal drug activities in Leyte.
The senator’s remarks came after Espenido, during a House hearing on former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, disclosed that dela Rosa had ordered him to “neutralize” or kill drug users in the province.
“Oh, anong masama pala ‘to kung ineutralize ang drugs (So what’s wrong with neutralizing illegal drugs)? You have to neutralize the drug problem, diba (right)? May sinabi ba akong patayin yung tao? Wala akong sinabing patayin ‘yung tao (Did I say anything about killing people? I didn’t say anything about killing a person),” dela Rosa said in an ambush interview.
Dela Rosa, however, said he has yet to see how Espenido delivered his claims.
Nevertheless, as chief of the national police force at the time of Duterte’s drug war, Dela Rosa said he made it clear to Espenido to put a stop to the drug problem in his turf in a legal way.
“Kaya nga, titignan ko muna kung pano niya sinabi. Gawin mo lahat ng legal na pamamaraan para mahinto yung problema sa droga sa lugar mo. Diba kaya ka nga inassign dyan diba para trabahuin mo yung droga (That’s why I want to see first how he said it. I told him to exhaust all legal means to stop the drug problem in your jurisdiction. Isn’t it the reason why I asked you to work on the drug problem),” he recalled.
“Wala akong sinabi na inassign kita dyan para patayin mo lahat ng mga adik dyan, pusher dyan, wala naman akong sinabing ganon. Trabaho mo yan linisin mo yung kapaligiran mo (I didn’t say that I assigned you there to kill all the drug addicts, drug pushers there. I didn’t say anything like that. That’s your job to clean your surroundings),” the lawmaker pointed out.
In a separate statement, Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go also denied Espenido’s claims that he handled money earned from Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) that were used to reward police officers that implemented Duterte’s anti-narcotics drive.
Go had acted as Special Assistant to the President during Duterte’s term then later on became a senator.
“Parte na naman ito ng sarsuelang niluluto ng ilan upang mamulitika at manira — pilit na nag-iimbento ng istorya na lilinya sa narrative nila upang pinturahan kami ng itim at sila ang pumuti (This is another part of the sarsuela some are cooking up to politicize and destroy — trying to invent a story that will line up with their narrative to paint us black and them white)!” Go said.
Go, nevertheless, noted that Espenido himself admitted during the House hearing that he has no direct information or evidence to say that he is related to any POGO-drug war links.
“In other words, hearsay lamang ang isinaad niya kaya nakapagtataka kung bakit naging parte pa ng kanyang affidavit ang aking pangalan (In other words, he stated only hearsay so it is surprising why my name was even part of his affidavit),” he pointed out.
“I can categorically say, kailanman ay wala akong kinalaman sa anumang POGO at sa sinasabi niyang reward system sa drug war (I have never had anything to do with any POGO and what he says is the reward system in the drug war),” he stressed.
When he was still the special assistant to Duterte, Go said he never handled any funds related to the drug war and most especially anything from POGO.
“More so when I became senator in 2019. Kailanman ay hindi ako humahawak o tumatanggap ng pondo o pera mula sa iba. Alam ng mga kasamahan ko sa trabaho 'yan (I never held or accepted funds or money from others. My colleagues at work know that),” he pointed out.
For Go, the issues surrounding POGOs is not connected to the former president’s war on drugs but is merely being forced into the drug war.
Go pointed out that POGOs were not a trend yet when Duterte campaigned to suppress illegal drugs when he started his term in 2016.
“Hindi pa naman uso ang POGO noon (POGOs where not a trend back then). Again, POGO has nothing to do with FPRRD’s governance and administration,” he pointed out.