Dela Rosa backs appointment of new PNP anti-drug chief

FILE: Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Tuesday defended the appointment of Senior Superintendent Albert Ignatius Ferro as the new PNP Drug Enforcement Group chief last Saturday. (Photo: Philippine National Police/ Facebook)

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Tuesday defended the appointment of Senior Superintendent Albert Ignatius Ferro on Saturday as the new PNP Drug Enforcement Group chief.

“He really deserves a second chance. He’s learned his lessons. Some guys are just lucky but not competent, some are competent but unlucky. He was just unlucky,” the PNP chief said in a press briefing on Tuesday.

Dela Rosa lauded Ferro’s track record, saying that it would speak for itself in relation to the police official’s credibility and ability.

“I need someone who could steer the PNP drug enforcement group. And I know him, he can really deliver given his track record,” Dela Rosa said.

“Tanggalin n’yo nalang ako kung ayaw n’yo ako pumili ng taong gusto ko. That’s my prerogative. Wag na nila s’ya tirahin. Ako nalang (Just remove me if you don’t want me to choose my men. Don’t bother him anymore),”he added.

Prior to his appointment as the new PNP-DEG chief, Ferro headed the PNP Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (AIDG), which was dissolved after the Jee Ick Joo scandal.

Several officers of PNP-AIDG were accused of abducting the Korean businessman, killing him inside PNP headquarters in Camp Crame last January, and extorting money from his family in October 2016.

The PNP chief earlier exposed that a syndicate composed of immoral members of the PNP as well as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) could be behind the crime. Apart from dissolving the body, the PNP also relieved Ferro.

“It was found out na hindi siya (Ferro) involved doon sa Jee Ick Joo case. Nangyari lang na ang mga taong gumawa ng krimen are under his command (It was found out that Ferro was not involved in the case of Jee Ick Joo. It just so happened that the men who did the crime are under his command),” Dela Rosa told reporters.

“He was even instrumental in the resolution of the case… He was not part of the problem, he was part of the solution. ‘Yun nga lang sya ang boss that time kaya ni-relieve natin sya (It’s just that he was the boss during that time that’s why we relieved him),” he added.

Dela Rosa even said that the newly-appointed PNP-DEG facilitated the confession of SPO4 Roy Villegas, who witnessed his colleagues strangle Jee.

The PNP chief also praised Ferro’s foreign ties, saying that his well-built relationship and coordination with PNP’s international counterparts was his main qualification.

“He has established contacts from our foreign counterparts. Mahirap kasi makuha trust ng foreign counterparts (It is hard to earn the trust of foreign counterparts),” he further said.