INCOMING Philippine National Police director general Chief Supt. Ronald Dela Rosa vowed to resign if he fails to reduce criminality and drugs in the country in the next six months.
Dela Rosa would personally ask President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to sack and replace him if he fails to stop the proliferation of illegal drugs within the three-to-six months target.
“I will step down if you see me as a failure. If I will not deliver a good result in six months. I will surrender and I will tell him [Duterte]: ‘I cannot do it, please release me, let me go’,” Dela Rosa said in an interview at Camp Crame in Quezon City.
Dela Rosa said he will focus on eliminating drugs first while reducing other forms of crime as well.
“We need to get rid of those first then at the same time, we need to eliminate all other forms of crime,” he said.
While admitting that he is indeed a junior compared to the other qualified senior police officers, Dela Rosa said he will replicate the peace and order strategies which he developed and implemented in Davao City in various police offices across the country.
Part of that strategy is a regular assessment of the performance of police commanders from regional directors to town police chiefs to determine if they can still stay on the job.
“Three months after their appointment, we will evaluate their performance if they measure up on the expectation of the public,” said Dela Rosa.
According to Dela Rosa they will conduct a lifestyle check among the force to remove officials involved in illegal activities.
“We will do every approach—legal or illegal—to stop these officials from doing just the same act over again,” he insisted.
The incoming PNP chief said he also wants station commanders of each police station to be more engaged in the field to help the reduction of petty crimes.
“We will assign district directors in Metro Manila. We will make sure that these directors are not just hired to do office work but also field work,” Dela Rosa said.
Dela Rosa, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1986, used to be the provincial director of Davao Oriental before he was appointed as director of the Davao City Police.
He also serve as executive director of the Directorate for Human Resources and Doctrine Development, to earn his first star which he did a few month ago.