NOV. 23 last year, PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa cried. Last Tuesday, Sept. 5, Bato cried again.
Same place: the Senate. Same committee: the committee on public order and dangerous drugs. The same subject: death (in 2016, the killing of Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa; this week, the killing of student Kian de los Santos).
Theories on why he cried:
-- He couldn’t explain a clear act of abuse by his police. (Espinosa was executed inside a jail; de los Santos was made to run with a gun and shot dead). He, thus, mourned the conduct of bad cops under him.
-- The problem of PNP would tear him up; any reference to the “organization I love” would tug his heart and open tear ducts.
-- He thought it would make a good public image, good for media and its consumers, and showed empathy to would-be voters in the 2019 election for senators.
‘Goes emotional’
New media didn’t say he “cried.” President Duterte did, when he defended Bato in his latest meltdown. The Inquirer used “goes emotional” twice, in 2016 and this week, using photos that are similar in many aspects.
It’s the choked-up voice and dabbing or wiping the eye that Bato tells the public he’s crying. But it’s not like he lets out an uncontrollable sob.
Risa a ‘bobo’
Duterte, in defending Bato’s emotional state, blamed Sen. Risa Hontiveros who said nationwide killing must be the state policy. He called her a “bobo.” Two killings don’t make a state policy, Duterte said.
What’s unethical
Sen. Dick Gordon said he’d file an ethics complaint against Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV for calling the Blue Ribbon that Dick heads “Komite de Absuwelto.”
That’s unethical? Trillanes recalled that Joker Arroyo once called him a “mosquito” and Miriam Santiago (both senators at the time) called colleagues and resource persons “fungus-faced.”
TIP US OFF. TELL US ABOUT IT.
[paseares@gmail.com]