Another public figure is giving his stamp of approval for Philippine National Police-National Capital Region Police Office (PNP-NCRPO) chief Major General Guillermo Eleazar, who was caught roughing up a cop nabbed for extortion.
And it’s none other than former police chief and senatorial candidate Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa. Dela Rosa said in an interview today on ANC’s Headstart that if it were him, he would’ve done much worse, like slam the erring cop’s head against a wall.
That’s stone cold.
He said in Filipino: “Eleazar is good because he was able to suppress or control [his feelings]. [Eleazar’s actions were just a] sign of frustration.
“That was Eleazar’s instant reaction. As a commander, your frustration gets the better of you and your composure.”
He continued: “It’s frustrating because, despite all the things that our government and the PNP has done, that’s what they (erring cops) will do. If it were me, I wouldn’t have just pulled his hair, I would’ve slammed his head against the wall.”
Easy, now.
Bato, who ranks 11th to 16th places in the senatorial polls, was reacting to concerns about how Eleazar collared and angrily held Police Corporal Marlo Siblao Quibete’s head after the latter was nabbed for allegedly taking bribes. It was earlier reported that he even pulled the cop’s hair, but Eleazar denied this.
Eleazar’s outburst went viral on social media, drawing criticism from netizens and from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) which said that Eleazar violated human rights.
Both Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and current PNP chief Police General Oscar Albayalde also defended Eleazar. Duterte even said that he had Eleazar’s back.
READ: Duterte, police chief back Metro Manila top cop for roughing up alleged crooked cop
“Tell Eleazar, [what he did] was okay. So what if he did that?” the president said in a speech in Malacañang on Wednesday. “Tell him I’ve got his back.”
Albayalde, on the other hand, compared Eleazar’s outburst to how parents spank children.
He said in an interview on GMA News’ Unang Balita on Thursday: “Sometimes, you just can’t avoid having outbursts when you’re furious. It’s like spanking our children in our home.”
Eleazar has apologized for the incident but also said that Quibete deserved it.
“He deserved that. These cops, we can’t baby them but we can’t hurt them either,” Eleazar said in a press conference.
