Philippines ex-top cop Ronald dela Rosa to ‘independently’ probe his own drugs crackdown
- Former police chief has been elected to Senate committee tasked with investigating operation Oplan Tokhang, which has left thousands dead
- Activists say the decision presents a clear conflict of interest, with one calling it akin to ‘putting a fox in charge of the chicken coop’
Lawyer Ephraim Cortez, secretary general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers, said there would be “no objectivity in the forthcoming probe”.
“If there was any real justice in the Philippines under President Duterte, Bato would be languishing in a prison thinking about his crimes rather than sitting in the Senate, figuring out how to cover them up,” Robertson said, referring to dela Rosa by another name.
Duterte’s successor? Philippines top cop known as ‘Bato’ hints at run for presidency
He is a strong supporter of the death penalty for importing and manufacturing drugs.
Dela Rosa’s life has even become the subject of a movie. Bato: The General Ronald dela Rosa Story was released in January and depicts his ascent from police officer to senator.
Jose Antonio Custodio, a historian and defence analyst at the Institute of Policy, Strategy and Development Studies, said it would be difficult to envision Dela Rosa going against a policy of which he was the architect, especially since it had led to so many deaths.
“Most likely, the result of such an ‘investigation’ will be to brush aside the excesses as a necessary evil and trumpet questionable statistics on the achievements of the drug war,” Custodio said.
The top cop Filipinos call ‘Bato’ is enforcer in President Duterte’s bloody drug war
“It would be natural to assume this will result in more heavy handed approaches and killings in police operations.”
But Edmund Tayao, a political-science professor at the University of Santo Tomas, said Dela Rosa was now a legislator involved in policymaking rather than enforcement so the impact on police operations would be limited.
“If at all, the significance of his involvement in the drug war probe is how it will impact the government’s approach, including in the allocation of resources to law enforcement,” Tayao said.
