Police Must Be Left Standing, The Criminals Dead – PNP Chief

“When the smoke has cleared, you should be the ones left standing and the criminals should be dead,” Philippine National Police Director General Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa said Monday.

De la Rosa addressed personnel of the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Monday after trooping the line during his first command visit at Camp Sergio Osmena Sr. on Osmena Blvd., Cebu City.

De la Rosa said he visited Cebu because it was in Cebu that Mactan Chieftain Lapu-Lapu killed Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

“We should all be like Lapu-Lapu,” he said, saying it is the criminals who should get killed.

De la Rosa said he could be the first PNP chief who carries a gun, raising his uniform to show an automatic pistol tucked in his waist.

“I carry a gun because if I see the number one drug lord in Cebu, I will shoot him. Patyon nako diretso (I will kill him),” he said.

He did not name the drug lord, but in a press conference later, he challenged Peter Lim, named by President Rodrigo Duterte as one of three Triad members in the country operating in Cebu to “open his books and bank accounts” to give investigators a free hand to investigate the source of his wealth.

De la Rosa also lamented that many police personnel received money from illegal drugs.

Some PNP members, he said, even sell drugs.

Dios ko, tabangi ko (My God, help me),” he said.

De la Rosa said the police must act now before the country becomes a “narco-state” with more members of the police force taking money from drug lords and those involved in the illegal drugs trade.

He said some personnel from the PRO 7 linked to the illegal drugs trade would be reassigned to Mindanao. (PNA) RMA/EB/EDS