Bato Must Level Up

With great power, the comic-book hero was advised, comes great responsibility. No one can deny that national police chief Ronald “Bato” De la Rosa wields immense power under the law-and-order administration of President Rodrigo Duterte — but now it’s time for Bato to take his job to the next level by going after rogue policemen who may reverse the gains of Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.

De la Rosa has basked in the national limelight as chief implementor of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign. No less than a former PNP chief who made a second career out of politics, Senator Panfilo Lacson, has implied that Bato could seek elective office when he retires next year, if he does his job well.

But Lacson correctly observed that De la Rosa should focus on the job at hand, which now includes going after so-called “ninja cops.” These are the lawmen who are using the anti-crime drive as a means to keep doing what they’ve been doing — illegal stuff like drug dealing, kidnapping for ransom, grand and petty extortion and providing protection for all sorts of unsavory activities like gambling and prostitution that have given the police force a bad name.

Click on above image to read Jojo Robles' full article for the Manila Standard