OUR idea of a national police chief is somebody who is calm, resolute, stable, and only sparingly wears his heart on his sleeve.
He stands by his decisions and assumes responsibility for everything that might go wrong.
He is not prone to histrionics, and does not invoke a higher authority when his actions come under fire.
He, too, would know his worth and would know when he is being effective, and when he no longer inspires confidence and respect among those he is mandated to protect.
Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa cried again during a Senate hearing Tuesday as he claimed there was never a policy to kill drug suspects, much less innocent individuals.
“We are willing to die for the innocent. It is not correct to say that there is a policy for widespread killing. God is there. He sees. He knows,” he said.
The police sparked outrage among the people following the deaths of at least three teenagers: 17-year-old Kian delos Santos and 19-year-old Carl Arnaiz at the hands of Caloocan Police, and now 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman, whose body was found floating in a river in Nueva Ecija on Wednesday.
In his Senate appearance, Dela Rosa tearfully pointed out that he was also seeking justice for the cops who are doing their jobs and who put their lives on the line. “And yet you accuse us of having this policy. That hurts,” he said.
We hate to break it to Mr. Dela Rosa, but nobody really cares about his feelings.
He had been hurt many times before: When his men killed a Korean businessman right in police headquarters in Camp Crame, and when he relieved the regional head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group only to have the President reinstate him. The most he did was scold some cops, make them do push ups and threaten to send them to Mindanao.
Obviously Dela Rosa’s job is not for the faint of heart or the weak of will. We wonder thus where he gets the gall to cling to his post and be the face of an institution that evokes fear instead of security.
Dela Rosa should stop the drama. The more he cries, the more we think he’s just a clown. What we truly care about is having a police force that makes us feel safe, not petrified.
