The reassignment of Supt. Marvin Marcos and 18 other cops charged for the killing of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. has raised the morale of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the police chief himself said on Wednesday.

PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said this just shows that President Rodrigo Duterte is a man of his words.

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“Nakataas ng morale because the President is a man of his words. Sinabi niya, ‘kapag kayo nagka-problema sa trabaho niyo, nandito ako. Hindi ko kayo pabayaan,’” Dela Rosa said during the joint hearing of the Senate committees on public order and drugs, and justice and human rights.

(It boosts our morale because the President is a man of his words. He told us, “if you have problems in your duty, I am here for you. I will not let you down.”)

Dela Rosa said what Marcos and the rest of the former members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Eastern Visayas (CIDG-8) did was “in line of duty.”

“Ang ginawa lang ni Marcos ay in line of duty so tinulungan lang siya na pagtrabahuin ulit so nkakaka-high morale,” he said.

(What Marcos did was in line of his duty; he was just assisted in getting his job again, so it’s morale-boosting.)

The police chief, however, admitted during Senator Bam Aquino’s interpellation that the reinstatement of a cop charged for killing is “not so normal” in the PNP.

But still, he would decide to bring them back to service because the PNP lacks personnel on the ground.

Asked if he would still reinstate Marcos even without Duterte’s order, Dela Rosa said: “Kulang na kulang (ang mga pulis)… Ibabalik ko pa rin sila dahil maraming trabaho (We lack manpower. I will still bring them back because there are a lot to be done).”

Earlier in the hearing, Dela Rosa reversed his statement about Duterte’s order to reassign Marcos to another post.

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READ: Bato flip-flops on Duterte influence in reassignment of Supt. Marcos

He later admitted that it was Duterte who personally told him to bring back Marcos and his men to service because it would be a waste as the erring cops were being paid without working. IDL

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