Bato to Bilibid drug lords: See you

MANILA, Philippines — Three months before he takes over the helm of the “problematic” New Bilibid Prison (NBP), police Director General Ronald dela Rosa has warned convicted drug lords to stop their illegal activities or face the consequences.

“I’ll see you there after this (term) extension. If they would shoot it out with me, if they want to fight with me, then it would be bloody. But if they would not, then it would be peaceful. What is important is that they stop,” Dela Rosa, outgoing Philippine National Police chief, said yesterday.

He is set to retire from the service when he turns 56 on Jan. 21, although President Duterte hinted the police chief’s term might be extended by two or three months to give Dela Rosa enough time to complete some unfinished tasks, including the government’s campaign against illegal drugs.

Duterte said he wanted to assign Dela Rosa to the NBP because no one has yet succeeded in solving the problems there, apparently referring to persistent reports that convicted drug lords continue with their illicit operations even while inside the national penitentiary.

“I will account everyone, where you are, and what you are doing and I will see to it that you will not continue your drug trafficking there,” Dela Rosa said during an ambush interview at the PNP General Hospital where he checked on a policeman who was wounded in action.??Earlier, authorities discovered that convicted drug lords still enjoyed a luxurious life, including the use of gadgets, despite being inside the maximum detention cell. This prompted Dela Rosa to send a team from the elite Special Action Force (SAF) to guard the facility and prevent drug lords from pursuing their illegal trade.??But Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II admitted that illegal drug operations emanating from the NBP still persist as most of the convicted drug lords, especially those who testified against Sen. Leila de Lima, were taken out of the facility being guarded by SAF.??He expressed support for the plan to appoint Dela Rosa as head of the Bureau of Corrections next year, saying the police chief’s experience would be “very useful” in addressing the problems of the BuCor, one of the agencies attached to the Department of Justice.

“I was consulted several months ago on his forthcoming appointment as BuCor chief. I wholeheartedly agreed and supported it. BuCor needs the kind of caliber of General Bato to solve its very difficult problems,” Aguirre said.

He added that he was the one who endorsed the three BuCor deputy directors to Malacañang. They are retired generals Valfrie Tabian, the current BuCor officer-in-charge; Melvin Ramon Buenafe, and Heriberto Olitoquit.

 The three BuCor deputy directors are mistahs of Dela Rosa. – With Evelyn Macairan