MANILA, Philippines – “I am still very proud of you.”

This was the message of Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald dela Rosa to 1,157 former cops of Caloocan City when he spoke to them on Monday, October 2 for their first day of retraining and reorientation.

“Sa harap ng media, sasabihin ko I’m still very proud of you. Kahit sabihin niyo ‘yung mga tao ko tarantado, I’m still very proud of them. Kasi ‘yung droga sa Caloocan, pinagpeperahan ng maraming kapulisan, ngayon lang nila inatake yung problema,” Dela Rosa said.

(In front of the media, I will say I’m still very proud of you. Even if you say that my people are fools, I’m still very proud of them. Because before, Caloocan cops got money from the [drug trade], now, they attacked the problem.)

The top cop was referring to the record of the Caloocan police force of being awarded as the “best in Metro Manila” for its contribution in the war against illegal drugs.

This is a foil to the tongue-lashing that the cops got from Metro Manila police chief Oscar Albayalde as Dela Rosa said he was not at all angered by the controversy which haunted them.

“Di ako galit sa inyo, in fact, humahanga ako sa inyo dahil sa gingawa ninyo sa Caloocan (I am not angry at you, in fact, I admire you for what you did in Caloocan),” Dela Rosa said.

He said they should not be demoralized by the mistakes of the few which led to the sacking of all of them. (READ: Dela Rosa accuses media of painting PNP as drug war ‘villain’)

“‘Bahala na ano’ng sabihin nila diyan, hindi kailangan kami magpapapogi, magpapasikat, (Don’t mind the criticism, we don’t have to make ourselves look good or be popular),” Dela Rosa said.

With the sacked police force’s morale raised, the top cop asked: “Ready na kayo mag-training? (Are you ready to train?)”

The cops shouted in chorus: “Sir! Yes, sir!”

The relieved law enforcers will undergo “intensive” retraining and reorientation inside the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, where they will be staying for 30 days.

After their retraining, they will be reassigned to new areas to serve as cops once more. – Rappler.com