Were Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa’s comments this morning about joining vigilante groups “hyperbole” or “heightened bravado?”
“I promise, that’s a promise: I will not back down against scalawags. Even after I retire, that may be when you’d see a 4-star general, retired 4-star general leading vigilantes against rogue cops. I may become a vigilante against scalawag policemen. I will never stop until my last breath,” he said during a flag ceremony at Camp Crame.
So the way to end police abuse, who are also accused of moonlighting as vigilantes, is with more vigilantism? Okaaay.
Dela Rosa, handang pamunuan ang vigilante group vs police scalawags matapos magretiro sa serbisyo pic.twitter.com/N8aW0blIWF
— Henry V. Atuelan (@dzmmPatrol44) November 27, 2017
If this was simply Dela Rosa’s way of expressing his frustration with erring cops, he might want to consider that these kinds of statements are precisely why the United Nations Human Rights Council, and international monitoring groups like Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch are critical of President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs, and the role of the Philippines’ police force in implementing it.
According to Dela Rosa’s numbers, one-third of the 150,000 police force are “scalawags.”
Even if he wasn’t serious, instead of articulating how he plans to reform the police force, the chief’s explanation was reduced to simply eliminating corrupt cops.
Dela Rosa is known as the architect of “Project Double Barrel,” the official name of the government’s war on drugs. He plans to retire by the end of this year.
The constitutionality of the war on drugs is currently being challenged in the Supreme Court.
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