Should he win a seat in the Senate, the first bill former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Bato dela Rosa will be filing will be a measure to restore the death penalty for drug lords.
The administration senatorial candidate from Mindanao reiterated the need to “neutralize” the threat posed by drug lords, who even when incarcerated have shown that they still have the resources to run their operations behind bars.
“Hindi sapat ang life imprisonment. Nakita naman natin na pag nasa kulungan ang mga drug lord, sinusuhulan nila ang mga bantay para magka cell phone, para may special treatment,” (Life imprisonment is not enough. We have seen that even behind bars, these drug lords can bribe their guards to allow them access to mobile phones, be given special treatment) said Dela Rosa, who also formerly headed the Bureau of Corrections.
“We have to do what must be done to protect the future of our children and our countrymen.”
“Yung di nila kaya bayaran, tinatakot naman nila. So yung prison guards natin nalalagay sa alanganin. Kaya umabot tayo sa punto na kailangan mag deploy ng SAF (Special Action Force) sa Bilibid at i-reshuffle regularly para di sila ma-corrupt ng drug lord,” explained dela Rosa.
According to Dela Rosa, drug lords were behind the corruption of PNP officers that President Rodrigo Duterte tagged as responsible for sabotaging the government’s war on drugs.
“Ang narco-cops, katambal ng narco-politicians, at ang mga ito ang nakakasagabal sa gyera natin laban sa droga. Hangga’t may drug lords na magpapamudmod ng pera sa mga narco-cops at narco-politicians, mahihirapan tayo magtagumpay sa drug war.”
“Those who do not have a conscience do not deserve mercy.”
The death penalty, said Dela Rosa, would “cut the heads of the drug operations in the Philippines.”
“Sinabi ko na dati: those who do not have a conscience do not deserve mercy. Ang mga taong ito sinisira ang buhay ng kabataan, ng ating kababayan, para sa salapi. We have to do what must be done to protect the future of our children and our countrymen.”
