Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa told the quad-committee (quad-comm) in the House of Representatives to focus its energy on investigating the prevalence of crime in the country, instead of using their resources in detaining former and current officers "who are serving the land in good faith".

The former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief made the remark after he visited the wake of Reynaldo Bigno Jr., who was shot to death by a policeman who was allegedly under the influence of drugs inside a passenger bus in Makilala, Cotabato.

"Ayun dapat ang imbestihan ng quad-comm, ‘yung mga ganyang insidente ba, na bakit dumadami na ngayon ang mga taong kriminal na malakas na ang loob mamaril ng pulis (The quad-comm should investigate incidents like these, where there is a noticeable increase in criminals who are bold enough to shoot at police officers)," Dela Rosa said.

"Hindi ‘yung mga pulis na nagtatrabaho ng maayos. Katulad ni Gen. Wilkins Villanueva...cinite in contempt pa nila, ‘di ba? (Not the police officers who are doing their jobs properly. For example, Gen. Wilkins Villanueva... they even cited him in contempt, right?)" the Mindanaoan lawmaker added.

For the former PNP chief, criminals no longer fear authorities because the House quad-comm is interrogating them about their investigations.

"Kaya mas lalong lumakas loob ng mga kriminal, lumakas ang loob ng mga drug pusher, ng mga drug lord dahil wala na silang kinakatakutan. Hindi na sila natatakot sa mga awtoridad dahil ‘yung awtoridad, iniipit nila sa quad-comm (That's why the criminals have become more emboldened, the drug pushers and drug lords have gained more confidence because they no longer have anything to fear. They are no longer afraid of the authorities because they are squeezing the authorities into a corner)," he said.

"So ngayon dumami na naman ang adik, matapang na naman ‘yung mga pusher, matapang na naman ‘yung mga drug lord, carnapper (Now, the number of addicts has increased again, and the pushers, drug lords, and car thieves are becoming bolder once more)," he noted.

Dela Rosa also visited Pat Russel Tapia, one of the two PNP officers who were shot and wounded by the cop who was allegedly under the influence of drugs inside the passenger bus.

In one of his Facebook posts, Dela Rosa slammed the narco-politicians who contributed to the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country.

"Shoutout to all drug lords, drug protectors, and politicians who contributed to the proliferation of illegal drugs! Sagutin naman ninyo ang bayad ng punerarya! Meron din sana kayong corporate social responsibility sa laki ng business ninyo! (A shoutout to all the drug lords, drug protectors, and politicians who have contributed to the spread of illegal drugs! Why don't you cover the funeral costs as well? You should have some corporate social responsibility considering the size of your business!)" Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa led the war on drugs of the Duterte administration during his time as the PNP chief in 2016.

The senator has been stressing the need to continue the anti-illegal drug campaign after the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte. He said that the proliferation of illegal drugs was one of the major causes of the prevalence of crimes in the country.