SENATOR Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa urged former Iloilo City mayor Jed Mabilog on Friday, September 20 to name the police official who warned him against returning to the Philippines during the height of the drug war under former President Rodrigo Duterte.
It can be recalled that Mabilog admitted to the Congress that he feared for his life in 2017. He mentioned that he flew to Japan and was supposed to return to the Philippines after speaking with Dela Rosa, who was the PNP chief at that time, but was cautioned by another unnamed police official.
According to Mabilog, a general warned him that if he returned to the Philippines, he would be forced to accuse former Senators Mar Roxas and Franklin Drilon as “drug lords.”
“Did [former President Rodrigo] Duterte do anything like that back then? None. It’s impossible. How could you implicate Senator Drilon and Mar Roxas? What basis do you have if you want to implicate them?” Dela Rosa questioned in a phone patch interview on Friday.
“He should name the general who told him so we can ask what his basis is. Where did he get that information? He should name who that is,” the senator added.
Dela Rosa stated that the House’s decision to invite Mabilog to the quad panel inquiry is just part of a demolition job against him and the Dutertes.
“This is a demolition job to destroy all of us and weaken Vice President Sara Duterte in 2028. That’s a purely demolition job. It’s obvious. What legislative purpose can you see there? I don’t see any. Those investigations have been going on for a long time,” the senator said.
When asked about the intention behind such a move, Dela Rosa mentioned that House Speaker Martin Romualdez allegedly wants to become the next President.
