MANILA, Philippines - For being clueless about a brutal crime committed under his nose and right inside his headquarters, Philippine National Police chief Director Ronald dela Rosa should immediately relinquish his post, Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez said yesterday, referring to the kidnap-slaying of a South Korean national by his police captors.
“The commission of a heinous crime right under his very nose is not only an insult but a clear indication that he has lost the respect of his people,” the Davao del Norte congressman, a staunch ally of President Duterte, said.
In response to calls for his resignation by netizens, Dela Rosa said he is leaving his fate to the President.
In seeking Dela Rosa’s replacement, the Speaker even cited a TV recording of the national police chief in December 2016 showing him running away from a press briefing “like a headless chicken after a pyrotechnic device he was holding started to smoke.”
“How can we believe the stern statements Dela Rosa had been making against criminals like in the aftermath of the Davao City bombing when he was the first to run at the slightest possibility of danger?” Alvarez pointed out.
Now touted as a rock star who is reportedly aiming for the Senate in May 2019, Dela Rosa “seems more interested in having a showbiz career and in landing in society pages of newspapers,” Alvarez said.
The House leader said the PNP chief has been “everywhere doing mundane things like singing videoke and watching concerts.”
“Dela Rosa should buckle down to work or better yet give the job to someone else who is dead serious in leading the PNP in its multi-pronged war against drugs, criminals and the scalawags within its ranks,” Alvarez suggested.
Calls for him to resign followed revelations that kidnapped South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo was killed by a policeman inside Camp Crame on Oct. 18 last year.
“Do they think I am enjoying my job? They want me to resign? They should tell the President to remove me,” Dela Rosa said. He did not reply when asked by The STAR to react to Alvarez’s statement.
“How cruel of them to say that I should resign. I have no rest. I have no sleep but anyway we cannot satisfy everyone,” he said.
“If the entire Philippines is declared drug free, then maybe I can resign,” he said.
Dela Rosa admitted Jee’s killing inside Camp Crame was his failure as a policeman was involved. “I admit that killing which happened here was our fault,” said Dela Rosa.
He revealed Duterte was enraged on learning that a lawman, Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, is the prime suspect in Jee’s killing.
He declined to answer when asked about the President’s directive on the case.
“That is between us. I could not reveal that to you,” Dela Rosa told reporters.
Meanwhile, Sta. Isabel was brought back to Camp Crame at past 7 p.m. yesterday. He was accompanied by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Group.
Insult to Bato
Senators said the latest police involvement in a heinous crime is a sign of growing defiance of his subordinates to Dela Rosa’s leadership.
Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III expressed anger over the killing of Jee by police officers inside the PNP headquarters.
“Enforce the law! The law in place. Murder is non-bailable,” Pimentel said in a text message.
He said Dela Rosa must first be given a chance to resolve the matter swiftly and satisfactorily before he gives in to calls for his resignation.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs, said the incident “was probably the most unwelcome wake-up call” for Dela Rosa.
“Having said that, the PNP leadership should lose no time in addressing the issue by henceforth going hammer and tongs against all rogue cops who only care about their personal gains to the detriment of the entire police organization,” Lacson said in a statement.
“Priority must be against those who take advantage of the President’s all-out, mostly bloody war against illegal drugs,” he said.
Sen. Francis Escudero said the incident was not only embarrassing but also “outright wrong and unacceptable.”
“This shows absence of respect and sheer arrogance of some police officers, not only with their PNP chief but with their uniform and organization,” Escudero said.
He said the killing was a result of Dela Rosa’s apparent coddling of police officers accused of executing suspected drug lord Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa in his jail cell last November while supposedly serving a search warrant before dawn.
Sen. Grace Poe said the incident is a litmus test on Dela Rosa’s leadership.
“This is one case that he must show resolve, boldly, that it will leave no doubt in the minds of our enraged citizenry that these men will be punished,” Poe said.
“Outrage must also come from the President. He must be one with the people in demanding justice. His condemnation must be forceful and unequivocal,” she said.
She warned any hint of hesitation or partiality on his part would further damage his reputation and that of the PNP.
Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano also described the incident as a “big, big wake-up call” for Dela Rosa even as he opposed calls for the PNP chief to resign.
“There’s no perfect campaign. It’s tragic, it’s so sad, it’s inexcusable to abuse a government program,” Cayetano told reporters, even as he expressed appreciation for Dela Rosa’s taking responsibility for the incident.
“The next question is: who in the chain (of command), who in the organization failed, so all of these questions, hard questions have to be asked and be dealt with,” he said.
Sen. Leila de Lima said the killing was the “logical and necessary outcome” of giving unlimited power and virtual immunity to policemen in the light of the rising cases of extrajudicial killings in the country.
“The international community is now forewarned of what law enforcement has become in the Philippines, where the law enforcers have become the number one criminal offenders,” De Lima said.
Death penalty
For Senate Minority Leader Ralph Recto, the killing also strengthens the arguments for the re-imposition of the death penalty in the country.
However, Recto said that the “cruelty and impunity inflicted in crimes like the one that victimized the Korean is beginning to define what a super heinous crime that may be punishable by death is.”
“In terms of how dastardly a crime is, we are seeing examples of a higher bar in which death penalty, in the eyes of its advocates, could be imposed,” Recto said.
The proposals to revive the death penalty in the country are already being tackled in Congress with particular focus on including drug pushing and other heinous crimes in the list of offenses punishable by death.
Debates in the Senate are expected to be extensive because its members are divided on this issue.
Recto said that complex crimes such as the one involving Jee serve as powerful emotional arguments for the re-imposition of the death penalty.
He said that he expects the debates on death penalty to be infused with actual examples of heinous crimes in which the demand for a greater restitution is high.
“It will go beyond theories and studies. Actual examples will be used by both sides. The pro will parade examples of heinous crimes. While the antis will cite successes of the power of rehabilitative justice,” he said.
In order for the proponents of death penalty to succeed in their advocacy, Recto said they should limit the coverage to the “super heinous, blood curdling and truly atrocious complex crimes.”
Recto said that he expects a greater chance for approval if there is a limit to the scope of the bill so that it only covers the truly monstrous and wicked acts, installs safeguards against abuses and provisions for automatic review by the Supreme Court.
He clarified that he was only “explaining the legislative terrain, the policy atmosphere under which the great debate will happen, for the benefit of all concerned.”
Together with the discussions on the re-imposition of the death penalty, Recto said that there should be moves to modernize the police force and reform the judicial system.
“The certainty of arrest and conviction is a better deterrent against crime,” he said. – With Emmanuel Tupas, Marvin Sy, Paolo Romero