Guam senators cancel meeting with Dela Rosa

Former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa’s supposed meeting with legislators in Guam was canceled after a senator expressed disinterest due to his involvement in the Philippines’ “bloody drug war,” Guam news outlets reported.

According to Pacific Daily News and the Guam Daily Post, the former PNP chief, who now heads the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), was invited to Guam by Senator Dennis Rodriguez Jr. to meet lawmakers at the Guam Congress Building on June 30.

But just a day prior to the scheduled visit, Senator Telena Nelson, chairwoman of the Guam Legislature’s Committee on Housing, Utilities, Public Safety and Homeland Security slammed the invitation to Dela Rosa, causing other senators to withdraw from the meeting.

“Law enforcement officials in Guam, and throughout the world, must protect the judicial system, not act outside of it,” Nelson was quoted as saying.

“When numerous human rights organizations allege that thousands of lives were taken without due process, each of us have an obligation to say no — not stand there for photos,” she added.

Rodriguez initially defended his decision to invite Dela Rosa as “hundreds of people are eager to see him and speak with him throughout his public appearances Saturday and Sunday” in Guam, but eventually canceled the latter’s visit.

(DAILY NEWS ROUND UP FOR 07/ 02 /18)