RESPONDING to the demands that he resign over the kidnapping and killing of Korean executive Jee Ick Joo, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa refused to resign on Saturday and said he will instead ask President Rodrigo Duterte if he has become a burden to him.
“I will ask the President if I am burden to him,” Dela Rosa told reporters during a shooting competition held in honor of his 55th birth anniversary at the Camp Karingal headquarters of the Quezon City police.
“There is no need to be formal about it. I will only ask him,” Dela Rosa said, adding that his birthday wish is that erring policemen change their ways.
“My birthday wish is that all policemen will be good, no police would be involved in syndicates anymore. This is my only birthday wish,” Dela Rosa said. “Even if I have to leave on this very day, so long as our lunatic colleagues change.”
Dela Rosa made the remarks as calls for his resignation mounted after the public learned that Jee was killed at the PNP’s Camp Crame headquarters. He was severely criticized on Twitter with the hashtag #BatoResign which has been trending since Thursday.
Even Speaker Pantaleon Alavarez joined the calls for his resignation on Friday “to save President Rodrigo Duterte from further embarrassment and restore respect to the Office of the PNP Chief.”
“The commission of a heinous crime right in his very nose is not only an insult but a clear indication that he has lost the respect of his people,” Alvarez said.
“They probably think my position I enjoy being PNP chief. They want me to resign, I can do that any time. Frankly speaking, I didn’t wish to be in this position. This was given to me and I know I was placed here because God has a mission for me,” he said.
The PNP chief was also lambasted for attending a Bryan Adams concert on Thursday night but he said deciding not to go to the concert would not have made a difference in the case.
“The victim was long dead when I attended the concert. Would he have risen from the dead if I decided not to go?” he said.
“What more do they want me to do? Commit hara-kiri? Do I need to kill myself so they will be happy. But hara-kiri is painful. Maybe I’ll do it if they will do it with me. To those who want me to resign, let’s commit hara-kiri together.”
“Besides, the case was solved anyway. The mastermind has been identified and we are looking for the other suspects,” he said.
