‘Bato’ to US State Dep’t, senator: ‘Bahala sila sa buhay nila’
National Police Chief Director General Ronald “Bato’ dela Rosa INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NINO JESUS ORBETA
“Bahala sila sa buhay nila (Let them be).”
The tough-talking Philippine National Police (PNP) chief brushed aside the decision of the US State Department to stop the selling of some 27,000 assault rifles to the PNP amid Maryland Senator Ben Cardin’s criticism on the Philippines’ bloody drug war and alleged human rights violations.
“Kung ang reason nu’ng US senator ay human rights violations, that is his opinion. Bahala siya kung anong desisyon ang gagawin nila doon (If the US senator’s reason (for blocking the deal) is human rights violations, that’s his opinion. We’ll just let him figure out what they will do about it),” Dela Rosa said in an interview with radio DZBB on Wednesday.
“Hindi naman tayo pwedeng magpumilit. Bahala sila sa buhay nila (We cannot force them. We’ll just let them be),” Dela Rosa said.
READ: ‘Bato’ on nixed rifles deal with US: It’s not PNP’s loss
A Reuters report, quoting Senate aides, said Cardin, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was reluctant for the United States to provide the weapons “given concerns about human rights violations in the Philippines.”
The aides said Foreign Relations committee staff informed the US State Department that Cardin would oppose the deal during the department’s prenotification process for the sale of assault rifles.
Dela Rosa maintained that the nixed arms deal is not the PNP’s loss, adding that it would not affect the anti-drug operations of the police.
“Tayo naman ang bibili (We are the ones buying). It’s not the loss of the buyer but the loss of the seller,” he said.
The PNP is still waiting for the official notice from the winning bidder, InTrade.IDL
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