Bato tells convicted drug lords: I’ll see you

FILE: “I’ll see you there after this extension. If they would shoot it out with me, if they want to fight with me, then it would be bloody. But if they would not, then it would be peaceful. What is important is that they stop,” Dela Rosa said, three months before he takes the lead over the NDP. (Photo: Philippine National Police/ Facebook)

MANILA, Philippines — Incoming Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief and current Philippine National Police (PNP) General Director Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa has sent a warning to convicted drug lords to stop their illegal activities or otherwise face the consequences.

“I’ll see you there after this extension. If they would shoot it out with me, if they want to fight with me, then it would be bloody. But if they would not, then it would be peaceful. What is important is that they stop,” Dela Rosa said, three months before he takes the lead over the NDP.

Dela Rosa is set to retire as he turns 56 on Jan. 2. However, President Rodrigo Duterte said the former’s term might be extended by two or three months to give the police chief ample time to conclude unfinished duties in the police department including the government’s crackdown against illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa’s appointment came as Duterte said the problems in NBP have yet to be solved by somebody else.

Authorities reported that convicted drug lords in maximum security unit continue to enjoy luxurious life, pushing Dela Rosa to task elite Special Action Force (SAF) to watch the vicinity and to stop the alleged illegal drug trade.

However, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II disclosed that illegal activities in NBP still persist after most of the convicted drug lords were taken out of the prison to testify against former justice secretary and now Senator Leila De Lima who is currently detained.

Aguirre has also thrown its support for the appointment of Dela Rosa as the chief of the Bureau of Corrections, stressing that the latter’s experience would be “very useful” in resolving the problems surrounding BuCor.

“I was consulted several months ago on his forthcoming appointment as BuCor chief. I wholeheartedly agreed and supported it. BuCor needs the kind of caliber of General Bato to solve its very difficult problems,” Aguirre said.