HOURS after announcing his committee will open a Senate inquiry Monday on the February 26 shootout between Quezon City police and agents of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa was forced to declare a postponement, as chiefs of both the National Police and PDEA tested positive for Covid-19 and are in quarantine.
Dela Rosa, chairman of the Public Order and Dangerous Drugs committee, had announced on Saturday the conduct of the much-awaited hearing set for Monday, March 15.
Past noon of Sunday, however, dela Rosa said they were taking extra precautions because several other resource persons on both the PNP and PDEA sides were in quarantine. In fact, a “close contact” of PNP chief Debold Sinas, one Lt. Col. Extremadura, “died yesterday after testing positive together with the CPNP,” Sen. dela Rosa said in a media alert.
Dela Rosa, himself a former PNP chief before being elected senator, dashed earlier expectations—as aired by Senate President Vicente Sotto III—that Sinas and Villanueva could participate virtually from their isolation facilities.
In his urgent media advisory, Dela Rosa, however, stated that “committee hearings of this kind can be more frustrating if done virtually. Hoping for your kind understanding—Bato.”
On Sunday, news reports said PDEA chief Gen. Wilkins Villanueva had received notice that he was infected with Covid after getting a swab test, a requirement for what would have been his Monday personal appearance at the Senate, which has been conducting hybrid sessions and hearings in the pandemic. Some senators and resource persons are physically at the Senate building in Covid hot zone Pasay City; and others participate virtually.
Speaking to radio DWIZ on Saturday, Senate President Sotto said PNP chief Gen. Sinas, who was reported positive for Covid a few days ago, can very well participate virtually in the Dela Rosa panel hearing. By the same token, he is expected to seek the virtual participation of Villanueva, who has staunchly defended the PDEA operatives in the QC mall shootout, saying they were on a legitimate operation and that the cops involved had not followed rules of engagement.
Asked for comment by DWIZ on the spate of killings involving policemen, Sotto said, partly in Filipino, “anyway, we are holding a hearing on that in the next few days, Monday or Tuesday if I’m not mistaken. Now, those trying to avoid facing the Senate inquiry should not stay away. If you cannot attend, virtual [participation] is allowed. There’s no excuse.”
Reminded that “General Sinas is on quarantine,” Sotto told DWIZ: “but we have virtual.”
Sotto admitted he was “disappointed” in Sinas because, as PNP chief, he apparently did not follow health protocols on a visit to Oriental Mindoro, a few days before testing positive.
Sinas had been excoriated on social media several months ago, after footage showed him being “serenaded” by subordinates on his birthday, when he was still chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and was chief enforcer of the strict rules on social distancing. He described the event as the traditional “mañanita” for superior officers in the police, adding he did not encourage it and was surprised by his men.
Referring to Sinas’s latest controversy, Senate President Sotto said, “yes, I hope they [officials] don’t do that,” meaning, flout protocols. He recalled how, when he was guest of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) last month, Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong “brought me to triage. All of us were tested. We filled up forms—I and all of those in my group. Well, there was just one with me then.”
Asked if he thought there is a breakdown in the PNP leadership because of what is happening, Sotto told DWIZ: “I don’t know, I don’t want to be judgmental when it comes to that. I’m just saying, you can’t impose rules on other people, but exempt others. That cannot be.”
On the report of a provincial official that Sinas skipped screening, Sotto agreed, “there’s a violation there. When mayors, senators, and the Senate President, when they go to a place, have to go through triage or protocol, and everyone follows that, what right does the PNP chief have to ignore protocol?”
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