Bea Cupin
PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa seems to blame international media for the reported disrupted US sale of assault rifles to the PNP
MANILA, Philippines – Amid the reported disruption of the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s plan to purchase assault rifles from the United States, its chief, Director General Ronald dela Rosa lashed out at “biased media outlets” that supposedly only show one side of the country’s “war on drugs.”
“Kung makiusap ako sa kanila [US Senators criticizing the PNP], para tayong magmamakaawa sa kanila. Pakiusap ko sa kanila please verify properly your reports. Kung gusto niyo kayo mismo yung pumunta dito feel it for yourselves anong nangyayari dito. ‘Wag lang po kayong basta bastang tumanggap ng mga reports from biased media outlets. Yun ang aking advice sa kanila,” Dela Rosa said on Wednesday, November 2, during a press conference in Camp Crame.
(If I appeal to [US senators criticizing the PNP], it’ll be like we’re begging them. But I ask them to please verify properly your reports. If you want, you can come here yourself and feel what’s happening here. Don’t just accept reports from biased media outlets. That’s my only advice to them.)
Dela Rosa was reacting to news that the US State Department, according to a Reuters report, stopped the planned sale of more than 27,000 assault rifles worth over P1.7 billion because a US senator “was reluctant for the United States to provide the weapons given concerns about human rights violations in the Philippines.”
In the US, the State Department informs Congress of international weapons sales. Reuters said the Senate Foreign Relations committee staff informed the State Department of Senator Ben Cardin's plan to oppose the deal during the prenotification process for the sale of the assault rifles.
Read the full story at Rappler