PNP chief Dela Rosa admits son struggling at police academy

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa yesterday admitted that his son Rock is having problems at the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA).

Rock has academic deficiencies in two subjects that he has to make up through a removal exam, according to Dela Rosa. A removal exam is taken by cadets with borderline grades to determine if a student passes or fails a course.

Dela Rosa said his son made the admission when they met after the commencement exercises for the PNPA Maragtas Class of 2018 at Camp Mariano Castañeda in Silang, Cavite last Wednesday.

“I told him to review because nobody will take care of your future but yourself,” Dela Rosa said in a press briefing at Camp Crame.

The PNP chief said it is normal for cadets like his son to experience hardships in academics, recalling that he had the same problem when he was a student at the Philippine Military Academy.

“When I was a plebe in the academy, I had removals for mathematics,” Dela Rosa said.

Should the younger Dela Rosa fail in his quest to become a police officer, the PNP chief said he would welcome his son home with open arms.

Rock joined the academy last year, hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps. He survived the initial phase of being a plebe and is now a cadet.

Dela Rosa insisted he would never be ashamed of or disappointed with Rock should the latter quit his training.

“I’m not a slave driver of a father who will get angry because he quit,” he said.

The PNP chief said he prefers that Rock comes home than continue in the academy out of pressure of being the son of the country’s top police official.

“In the first place, the decision to join the academy was purely his and to quit is also purely his own decision,” Dela Rosa said.