MANILA, Philippines – A little over 24 hours after he first announced “cash gifts” for top police officials from no less than President Rodrigo Duterte, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said the money “did not come.”

“‘Yung bonus na talagang bonus na nakalagay sa suweldo namin, naibigay na iyon. Pero ‘yung kahapon na inannounce ko, supposed to be naghintay kami kahapon kaso nung nag-press con tayo, maraming nagtatanong kung saan ang source, saan galing, siguro na-discourage ang Malacañang magbigay hanggang ginabi na lang, walang dumating,” Dela Rosa said on Tuesday, December 20, during a chance interview in Camp Crame.

(The bonus that’s part of our salaries, that’s already been released. But what I announced yesterday, we were supposed to wait for it but when I had that press conference, a lot of you were asking about the source of the funds, where it came from. Malacañang, I suppose, was discouraged. We waited until evening but the cash gifts never came.)

During the PNP National Headquarters Christmas party in Camp Crame, Dela Rosa announced a P50,000 to P400,000 “cash gift” from Duterte to top officials in the PNP – the Command Group, the directorates, down to the regional and provincial offices.

There are 18 regional offices in the PNP, which supervise the country’s 81 provinces. At the PNP headquarters, there are at least 12 directorates and 23 operational and administrative support units.

“Kaya sabi nila baka before mag New Year or what baka bigyan na lang kami ng isang sakong bigas (So the Palace said maybe before New Year we might each be given a sack of rice),” added Dela Rosa.

Immediately after Dela Rosa’s impromptu announcement, the PNP and the Palace had received backlash over the “cash gifts.”

Senior officers who weren’t “star-ranked” officials just yet were set to get P50,000, while chief superintendents (one-star police generals) were set to get P100,000. Dela Rosa, who is the PNP’s only four-star general, would have gotten P400,000, he joked.

Show me the money 

The PNP chief did not say whether the “gift” was cancelled because of the backlash, but conceded: “I don’t want to preempt Malacañang. Siguro sabi nila, hintay-hintay lang kayo maghanap kami ng pera. ‘Yun ang sabi nila. Sabi ko… sabi ng ibang opisyal… bakit kasi, sayang, sayang.”

(I guess they said, just wait, we’ll find money. That’s what they said. I told myself, other officials said… why did this have to happen? Such a waste.)

Dela Rosa also insisted his Tuesday announcement wasn’t just a cover-up of Monday’s announcement and the subsequent backlash.

“Maghanap sila kung saan sila maghanap ng pera. Sabi ng Malacañang, walang pera (They can try to look for the money. Malacañang itself said there’s no money),” the PNP chief said.

Several younger cops – junior commissioned officers or non-commissioned officers – supposedly felt uneasy over the announced “cash gifts,” pointing out that they’ve been the ones who’ve flexed the most muscle in Duterte’s war on drugs.

But some police officials themselves were skeptical from the get-go. “Nowadays, you don’t really know what’s real or not,” said one police general, referring to Dela Rosa’s often very public announcements. 

Another police official, who was not in Camp Crame when the surprise announcement was made, said he only found out about the “gift” through the news. 

Dela Rosa said he was only informed of the “cash gifts” Monday morning, just before their Christmas party. During his impromptu speech, Dela Rosa had instructed the PNP’s “key officials” to drop by his office to pick up their cash gifts.

The PNP chief did not say who from Malacañang first told him about the “cash gifts,” referring to the Palace person as a “trabahante (staff member).” – Rappler.com