Nadagdagan pa ang mga mambabatas na sumusuporta sa panawagang magbitiw na lang sa tungkulin si Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, kasabay ng paghimok din kay Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte “to let him go” kaugnay ng nakaeeskandalong pagdukot sa negosyanteng Korean na si Jee Ick-joo, na pinatay sa loob mismo ng PNP headquarters sa Camp Crame, Quezon City.

Sinabi ni Antipolo City Rep. Romeo Acop, chairman ng House committee on public order and safety, na nakahihiyang sa “mismong bahay” ng PNP chief nangyari ang pagpatay ng tauhan nito.

“Kung ako si PNP Chief Ronald dela Rosa, magte-tender ako ng courtesy resignation kay Presidente,” sinabi ni Acop sa isang panayam ng radyo. “I will not let the President decide on the suggestions or recommendations of other people.

Ako na mismo ang magte-tender ng courtesy resignation ko. Kasi nangyari sa aking bahay at sarili ko pang mga tao ang involved.”

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Si Acop ay nagsilbing comptroller sa PNP, sa ilalim ng pamumuno ni ngayon ay Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.

Ilang pulis, sa pangunguna umano ni SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, ang dumukot kay Jee sa Pampanga bago dinala ito sa Camp Crame at doon pinatay. Nanghingi at tumanggap pa umano ng ransom ang mga suspek sa pamilya ng Korean kahit pa patay na ito.

‘MAJOR FAILURE’

Kaisa rin sina House Deputy Minority Leader at Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza at Citizens Battle Against Corruption (CIBC) Party-list Rep. Sherwin Tugna sa mga nananawagang mag-resign si Dela Rosa.

“We support the call for him to resign and that is a major failure of the (PNP) leadership and a big scandal for the country and the Duterte administration and the ongoing war on drugs. There is no way he can retain himself and we urge the President to let him go and choose a better man who will not be an embarrassment to his anti-illegal drugs campaign,” ani Atienza.

“He can no longer effectively convince the public that he can do the job. He should enjoy life, it seems he should be enjoying it anyway, and give the PNP a chance to excel and regain public trust. What happened to the South Korean which obviously not the first and the last case, so medyo he has lost the ability to effectively get the public assured that PNP can work effectively under his leadership,” sabi pa ni Atienza.

Matatandaang pinangunahan ni House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez ang pananawagan na magbitiw sa tungkulin si Dela Rosa dahil nagdudulot lang umano ito ng kahihiyan sa Pangulo.

‘SHAPE UP OR RESIGN’

“For me, I perceive Chief Bato as a well-meaning and dedicated police officer. However, he should give the office and position of the Chief PNP the decorum and probity it deserves,” sabi naman ni Tugna.

“Being a police officer is a 24-hour job as a public servant. It is of bad taste that he is watching a Bryan Adams concert while there is an ongoing problem with the kidnap murder of a Korean. He should greatly shape up. If not, he should resign,” aniya.

Sa kabila nito, hinihimok naman ni AMIN Party-list Rep. Makmod Mending, Jr., isang abogado, si Dela Rosa na huwag magbibitiw sa tungkulin at dapat na bigyan ng pagkakataong isailalim sa reporma ang PNP.

“He should be given a chance to reform the PNP. Unsolicited advice to him is to focus more on the actual reforms within the PNP rather than in improving the public image of the institution he leads,” ani Mending. “If we ask him to resign, then we let the bad guys win.”

Tinawag din ni Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) Founding Chairman Dante Jimenez na “premature” ang panawagang mag-resign ang PNP Chief, ngunit sinabing dapat itong magsilbing “wake-up call for him to work double time.”

TUTUKAN ANG REPORMA

Ito rin ang mensahe ni Senator Ralph Recto kay Dela Rosa, sinabing kung hindi magbibitiw sa tungkulin ang PNP Chief ay “he should dedicate his every waking hour thereafter to disprove his critics and to show that he deserves his continued stay in his post.”

Gaya ni Recto, hindi rin suportado ni Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III ang panawagang “Bato resign”.

“Ang aking point is, kung dahil sa South Korean (businessman) murder, na-solve naman na. So bakit magre-resign si Chief PNP if na-solve ng PNP ‘yung crime? Pero hindi ibig sabihin masyado akong satisfied sa performance ni Bato (Dela Rosa),” paliwanag ni Pimentel.