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Bato dela Rosa’s son Rock among new PNPA cadets

Bea Cupin

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Bato dela Rosa’s son Rock among new PNPA cadets
350 young men and women, including the son of the country's top cop, enter the Philippine National Police Academy

CAVITE, Philippines – The Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) on Monday, May 1, welcomed the members of the Class of 2021.

At Camp Castañeda, family, friends, and officials of the Philippine Public Safety College, PNPA, and the 3 bureaus under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) gathered to send off 350 cadets as they begin 4 years of education and training in the academy.

And while 350 young men and women joined the academy on Monday, a huge chunk of the attention was on one particular cadet – Rock dela Rosa, the only son of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.

The 22-year-old, a Business Administration graduate, passed the PNPA Cadet Admission Test in 2016, a few months into his father’s term as the country’s top cop.

GENERAL'S SON. PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa's only son Rock enters the academy. Photo by Bea Cupin/Rappler

Last March, a visibly emotional Dela Rosa admitted he felt nervous over his son’s pending admission into the academy.

“Kinakabahan kung kakayanin ba niya. I wish him good luck. [I feel] proud, proud. Pero bilang ama, kinakabahan din. Makakaya ba niya training? Physically, alam ko kayang-kaya niya, malakas ‘yun eh. Pero ‘yung psychological, I don’t know. Iba siya. Iba ako,” said Dela Rosa.

(I feel nervous over whether he can handle it or not. I wish him good luck. I feel proud, proud. But as a father, I feel nervous too. Can he handle the training? Physically, I know he can because he’s strong. But the psychological side, I don’t know. He’s different. I’m different.)

Dela Rosa graduated from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in 1986.

PNPA WELCOME. 350 young men and women join the Class of 2021. Photo by Bea Cupin/Rappler

“Ako, anak ako ng tricycle driver kaya no retreat, no surrender ako. Papasok [ako] doon – kahit na babagsakan mo ako ng shot put sa tiyan ko, hindi ako uuwi ng Davao. Pero siya, anak siya ng chief PNP kaya iba na rin ‘yung psychological kuwan niya. Medyo kuwan lang ako, apprehensive, but anyway, pabayaan ko siya kung ano gusto niya sa buhay,” added Dela Rosa.

(I am the son of a tricycle driver so it’s no retreat, no surrender in my case. I stayed in the PMA – even if they dropped a shot put on my stomach, I did not go back home to Davao. But he’s the son of a PNP chief, so his psychological outlook might be different. I’m a little apprehensive but anyway, I’ll let him pursue what he wants in life.)

But the younger Dela Rosa didn’t seem to have any problems with the usual “initiation” for new cadets – tough love from their upperclassmen in the academy. The PNP chief was not present for the reception rites.

The PNPA is where the PNP, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) get most of their officers.

Classes at the academy will begin in June. Until then, cadets will be learning drills and the traditions of the PNPA. – Rappler.com

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Bea Cupin

Bea is a senior multimedia reporter who covers national politics. She's been a journalist since 2011 and has written about Congress, the national police, and the Liberal Party for Rappler.