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'Bato' to keep drug war if elected president; denies he'll be Duterte puppet

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Jamaine Punzalan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa files his certificate of candidacy for president at the Harbor Garden tent of the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on Oct. 8, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/tvpatrol/10/11/20211008-election-filing-dela-rosa-bato-jc-7.jpg"/><figcaption>Sen. Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa files his certificate of candidacy for president at the Harbor Garden tent of the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on Oct. 8, 2021. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — Sen. Ronald &quot;Bato&quot; Dela Rosa said on Monday he would sustain President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s controversial war on drugs if elected to the country&#x27;s top post in the 2022 elections. Dela Rosa said his support for President&#x27;s policies is &quot;the main consideration&quot; of the Duterte-backed PDP-Laban faction for picking him as its standard-bearer.&quot;It is inscribed in my heart, lahat ng programa ng Pangulong Duterte (all programs of President),&quot; Dela Rosa said in a virtual press conference. &quot;I&#x27;m willing to live and die with that program,&quot; he said of Duterte&#x27;s anti-narcotics campaign that has been criticized for supposedly disregarding human rights.&quot;Of course, tuloy &#x27;yan,&quot; added Dela Rosa, a former national police chief who led the deadly campaign before winning a Senate seat in 2019. The International Criminal Court is looking into alleged crimes against humanity in the program that left thousands dead. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/spotlight/09/16/21/kill-them-key-events-on-dutertes-war-on-drugs">&#x27;Kill them&#x27;: Key events on Duterte&#x27;s war on drugs </a></li></ul>Oplan Tokhang, in which police knock on the doors of drug suspects and ask them to surrender, had &quot;very noble&quot; intentions, said Dela Rosa. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/war-on-drugs">War on Drugs, The Unheard Voices</a></li></ul>&quot;Karamihan sa mga tao dito ay ini-equate n&#x27;yo ang Tokhang to EJK (extrajudicial killing)... Mali po &#x27;yong iniisp n&#x27;yo. Tokhang is different from EJK,&quot; he said. (Most people here equate Tokhang to EJK. What you are thinking is wrong.) But if elected as president, Dela Rosa said the drug war will adjust &quot;to the changing times.&quot; He said one thing he would change is requiring body-worn cameras in all operations &quot;to avoid abuses and to provide protection to our operating personnels from harassment.&quot; Political analysts had expected Duterte to anoint a successor who could insulate him from potential legal action at home or by the ICC, once he is out of power. Dela Rosa said he and Duterte consider their &quot;friendship as solid.&quot; &quot;That’s unfair for me kung sabihin mong magiging puppet government ako. Unfair naman ‘yan... Irespeto din naman ako ni Presidente kung manalo ako, hindi rin siya makikialam. I am sure of that,&quot; said the senator. (That’s unfair for me if you say I&#x27;ll be a puppet government. That&#x27;s unfair. The President will respect me if I wn, he will not interfere.)Asked about the possibility of legal cases against Duterte, Dela Rosa said, &quot;Alangan pabayaan ko lang rin siya. Ano ako, walang utang na loob? Siya ang gumawa sa akin.&quot; (I cannot abandon him. What am I, someone who does not honor debt of gratitude? He made me.) &quot;Pagdating ko, nasa taas na ako, kakalimutan ko lang siya sa kaniyang mga problema? Hindi naman ganiyan ang Pilipino. Ang Pilipino’y marunong tumanaw ng utang na loob,&quot; he added. (If I reach the top and forget his problems, that is not how Filipinos are. Filipino know how to honor debt of gratitude.) Duterte and dela Rosa&#x27;s relationship started in Davao City when the former was still mayor there and the latter was chief of the local police.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=1790094" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>

Sen. Bato Dela Rosa said he would sustain President Duterte's anti-narcotics drive if elected to the country's top post in the 2022 elections. 

'Bato' to keep drug war if elected president; denies he'll be Duterte puppet

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'Bato' to keep drug war if elected president; denies he'll be Duterte puppet

Jamaine Punzalan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 11, 2021 04:22 PM PHT

Read More:

politics

2022 elections

Halalan 2022

Rodrigo Duterte

Bato Dela Rosa

Duterte drugs

Duterte ICC

war on drugs

drug war

Ronald Dela Rosa

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