Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. Gen. Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa on Wednesday told three ranking police officials who have been accused of coddling drug lords to "face the music."
Chief Supt. Bernardo Diaz, Chief Supt Edgardo Tinio, and Director Joel Pagdilao met with Dela Rosa at Camp Crame on Wednesday morning, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte publicly linked them and two others to illegal drug syndicates.
"My advice to them was face the music," Dela Rosa told reporters in a press conference after the meeting, adding he referred the three to the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM), which was tasked to investigate the allegation.
Dela Rosa said the three police generals assured him of their full cooperation in the probe. "They assured me they will give their 100 percent cooperation," he said.
He also said their meeting was "intimate and personal," but refused to go into specifics on what was discussed.
"All other details ng usapan namin [ay] sa amin na lang yun. Basta malungkot sila," Dela Rosa said.
"Yung aming usapan ay purely intimate and personal, I cannot discuss in public. Personal yun, amin na lang," he reiterated when pressed for details.
The PNP chief himself was teary-eyed during the press conference. "Malungkot sila, I listened to them... I want to cry with them," he said.
Asked how the meeting ended, Dela Rosa said he gave them assurance that he would look after their welfare as they face the investigation.
In his speech at the 69th anniversary of the Philippine Air Force in Pampanga on Tuesday, Duterte, who has vowed to stamp out drug syndicates during his term as president, identified Pagdilao, Diaz and Tinio, as well as former PNP deputy director generals Marcelo Garbo, Jr. and Vicente Loot, as protectors of drug syndicates.
All the five officials have denied Duterte's allegation.
Garbo and Loot have retired from the PNP, with Loot now the newly elected mayor of Daanbantayan town in Cebu.
On the other hand, Diaz was director of the Police Regional Office 6, Tinio was director of the Quezon City Police District Office, and Pagdilao was director of the National Capital Region Police Office.
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