Bato: I’m no destabilizer, not persecuting BBM

The Senate probe on the leak of purported documents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) is not part of destabilization efforts against President Marcos, Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said yesterday.

- JANVIC MATEO

And despite being a party-mate of former president Rodrigo Duterte, Dela Rosa maintained that he is not in favor of calls to oust Marcos from office.

In an interview with "Storycon" on One News, Dela Rosa described himself as a "rightist" and said that the position of Duterte as chairman of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino does not necessarily reflect the position of the entire PDP.

"The party chairmanship is not a party dictatorship," Dela Rosa said in a mix of English and Filipino. "I am a rightist. I want to maintain the status quo. I want to maintain the situation.

I am not a destabilizer." In the same interview, he maintained that the ongoing investigation of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs that he chairs is not aimed at "persecuting" Marcos.

"It is very clear that the purpose of my hearing is investigation in aid of legislation. This is not investigation in aid of persecution. I am not persecuting the President. I am not condemning the President," he said.

The Senate investigation is looking into the alleged leak of a PDEA "authority to operate and a preoperation report" that links Marcos and actress Maricel Soriano to illegal drugs.

Dela Rosa admitted that he has doubts on some of the things that Morales said, such as his insistence that he cannot name the person who gave him the information that he put in supposed report.

No other person corroborated Morales' claim, the senator added.

Dela Rosa said they will invite other personalities identified by Morales, including former executive secretary Paquito Ochoa, at the next hearing.

Congressmen see destabilization

Marcos' allies in the House of Representatives, however, see the development as part of a bigger picture aimed at destabilizing the Marcos administration.