Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, chief of the Philippine National Police, defends his men at Station 1 in Tondo, Manila, who packed drug suspects like pigs in a windowless jail.

We can’t read Bato’s mind or why he defends the indefensible but we can describe him thus: All brawn, less brains.

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Bato has the mentality of a rookie or PO1 instead of an intelligent and refined police general.

It’s not yet too late for President Digong to correct his mistake in choosing Bato to head the PNP.

There are more capable officers who can better project the PNP as a humane and civilian-friendly organization.

Bato recently got a tongue-lashing from the President when he asked for permission to be a judge in a beauty pageant in Tagbilaran City, Bohol province, while preparations for the Asean summit were underway, according to my sources.

Bato doesn’t have his priorities straight; he would rather ogle women in swimsuits than worry about the security of leaders attending the recently concluded summit.

This guy is hopeless!

The President intervened on behalf of local sugar planters and farmers when he berated the Sugar Regulatory Agency (SRA) for allowing a multinational cola company to import high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) for its soft drinks.

The intervention was timely as locally produced sugar would have lost to the imported sweetener.

Before the SRA gave the go-signal to the multinational firm, it used local sugar as the main ingredient for its popular soft drink brand in its plants in the country.

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Local sugar planters and farmers have blamed Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol, SRA chair, for allowing the importation of fructose corn syrup.

However, he denies taking up the cudgels for the multinational firm.

Prolonged use of high fructose corn syrup is bad for the kidneys and liver, according to medical studies.

It also reportedly causes cancer.

The fewer calories in fructose corn syrup or its being less fattening than sugar is offset by its carcinogenic and other harmful properties, medical experts claim.

If so, why did SRA allow HFCS to be imported as a sugar substitute?

Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez says he will try to convince his colleagues to pass a bill in the House of Representatives to impose bigger taxes on soft drink companies for their huge profits.

Bebot Alvarez told this columnist yesterday that soft drinks cost less than mineral or bottled water so more people consume them.

Like cigarettes, soft drinks should be taxed more than healthy drinks, he said.

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