Dela Rosa says UN execs misled by informants; PH visit will reveal truth

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa on Friday dared officials of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to visit the Philippines to see for themselves that they were ‘fooled’ by their “informants” on the drug war’s death toll.

Dela Rosa, a former chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said he is not afraid of the decision of the international body to proceed with the investigation of the human rights situation here, which include the drug war killings, since the government is not hiding anything.

READ: Greater scrutiny on PH killings gets UN rights council’s nod

“Come on down para mabulaga kayo sa mga mukha ninyo na niloloko lang pala kayo ng mga informant ninyo sa Pilipinas. You are misled, you were given the wrong numbers. Saan niyo hahanapin ‘yung kaso na ‘yan?” he said in an interview at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

(Come on down so you will know that your informants in the Philippines are fooling you. You are being misled, you were given the wrong numbers. Where will you trace those cases?)

He was referring to the alleged death of 27,000 drug suspects — as claimed by human rights groups — who allegedly resisted arrest during anti-drug operations. He said the figure is bloated and far from the 6,600 counted by the police from July 2016 until June 2019.

If these deaths are sponsored by the state, he said he is willing to have his head cut off.

READ: Dela Rosa: ‘Cut my head off if drug killings are state-sponsored’

Dela Rosa said in jest that perhaps the UNHRC did not know that the number of deaths being reported to them includes those who died of a heart attack or vehicular accidents.

The neophyte senator, however, said that if officials of the UNHRC will visit the country to scrutinize the human rights situation here, then they should do so with an “open mind.”

He then challenged officials of the council to investigate each of the alleged 27,000 deaths and to produce the names of those included in the list.

“Kung gusto niyo lumabas ang katotohanan, if you want the truth, isa-isahin natin ‘yan kung saan ‘yung kaso na ‘yan, sino ‘yung biktima na ‘yan, saan nangyari ‘yan,” he said.

(If you want the truth revealed, investigate those cases one by one. Where did it happen? Who were the victims?)

READ: Albayalde dares rights groups: Name all 27,000 people ‘killed’ in drug war

Dela Rosa also accused the UNHRC of disrespecting the sovereignty of the country, as also alleged by Malacañang, and told the member states who voted in favor of the adoption of the resolution to mind issues in their own countries instead.

He also dared the council to reveal who influenced their decision.

He said those who influenced the UNHRC to adopt the resolution report false figures to “arouse the senses” of international organizations, as part of their efforts to discredit the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. /ee

RELATED STORY:
PNP: CPP possibly behind UN human rights resolution