PRESUMPTIVE President Rodrigo Duterte has picked Chief Superintendent Ronald Marapon dela Rosa as the next director general of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Duterte’s executive assistant Christopher “Bong” Go confirmed on Wednesday the appointment of the former Davao City Police Office (DCPO) director as the next PNP director general.
The incumbent PNP director general Ricardo Marquez will submit his formal resignation when Duterte assumes the presidency post on June 30.
But dela Rosa will only be serving for about 11 months as PNP director general as he would reach the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) mandatory retirement age of 56 in May 2017.
Dela Rosa is popularly known as “Bato,” which is his birthplace. He has then lived up to the name due to his strong determination in fighting criminalities.
Dela Rosa has reportedly accepted the appointment during an interview with Bombo Radyo Philippines, but he said his appointment was not yet made official.
Born on January 21, 1962 in Barangay Bato in Sta. Cruz in Davao del Sur, dela Rosa finished Bachelor of Science (BS) in Public Administration at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City in 1982.
He entered the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1982 and graduated in 1986. He completed his Master of Public Administration at University of Southern Philippines (Usep) in Davao City in 2006.
Dela Rosa, in an earlier interview with him, said ever since his heart truly belongs to public service, as he cannot think of any other profession aside from being a law enforcer.
In 1992, dela Rosa was designated as chief inspector and work as one of the staff at Police Regional Office (PRO)-Davao. In 1997 he was designated as police provincial director of Compostela Valley province.
In 1999, he was detailed at the office of the Police Director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) at Cramp Crame in Quezon City and returned to PRO-Davao in 2001, where he continued his service as deputy chief of the ORPHRDD.
In 2003, dela Rosa was promoted as police superintendent and was assigned at the headquarters in Camp Catitipan in Davao City. He was transferred to Directorate for Human Resources Doctrine and Development as head of the training.
In 2005, he was assigned at Davao City Police Office (DCPO) as city personnel officer. After eight months, he was transferred back to PRO-Davao and was promoted as chief of the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division (RIID).
In 2007, dela Rosa became the director of the Compostela Valley Provincial Police Office (CVPPO) as its police chief. In 2008, he was promoted to a rank of senior superintendent.
In 2009, he was moved to Davao del Sur where he served as director of the Davao del Sur Provincial Police Office (DSPPO).
In 2011, he became the chief of the Regional Logistics and Research Development Division (RL-RDD) in PRO-Davao. One year after, he was assigned in Davao City as new director of the DCPO.
Dela Rosa is also active in several youth organizations, where he imparted to the youth to be responsible and a law abiding citizen and good children of their parents.
He made is mark in the police service during his stint with the DCPO where he spearheaded the crackdown on the carnapping syndicate allegedly masterminded by Ryan "Baktin" Yu in 2012, the successful rescue operation of a Chinese businesswoman who was kidnapped in 2013 and the implementation of Oplan Tukhang and Oplan Pakgang, his friendly approach in countering illegal drug trade and gangsterism.
Dela Rosa was transferred to another assignment at Camp Crame after his stint as DCPO director.
He also became a member of the PNP Board of Inquiry, which investigated the Mamasapano encounter, which claimed the lives of 44 Special Action Force commandos, 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front members and five civilians while the cops were on a mission to arrest international terrorist Zulkifli Bin Hir, alias Marwan.
Before the May 9 elections, Dela Rosa was relieved as commander of the PNP’s Reactionary Standby Support Force RSSF due to his alleged Facebook post, which was supposed to be pro-Duterte. (With reports from JPC/SuperBalita Davao)