A ranking police official on Monday hinted at legal action against the parties behind a supposed military intelligence report that linked him to a carjacking gang. In a radio interview, Director Roberto Rosales, Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Northern Luzon, said his lawyers are now determining who to charge for besmirching his reputation. "Whatever I will find out, I will not resort to extra-legal means. Abogado ko [ang] magde-determine (My lawyer will determine) who will be charged just in case," Rosales told dzBB radio. "They should be responsible enough to face the consequences," he added.
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Over the weekend, the Philippine Daily Inquirer published a story based on a confidential report alleging that Rosales and Supt. Napoleon Cauyan —former head of the defunct Traffic Management Group pf the Philippine National Police's (PNP) Task Force — were protectors of the Dominguez carjacking syndicate.
Both Rosales and Cauyan have since denied the allegations, with the former branding the allegation as a smear job against him.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has yet to issue any statement regarding the supposed intelligence report.
But journalist Arlyn dela Cruz, who broke the story, stood by her article that there was a report linking Rosales to the carjacking gang.
In a separate interview on dzBB, Dela Cruz said said the report was prepared by a lower-level unit tasked to monitor political personalities.
She also said she had interviewed Rosales and Superintendent Napoleon Cauyan to get their sides.
"Hindi ako gagawa ng report nang wala akong kausap at di ko nakita (I will not make a report without talking to sources and without seeing evidence for myself)," she said. On Sunday, the report written by Dela Cruz cited a military "intelligence report" linking Rosales and Cauyan to the Dominguez carjacking gang.
No intel report? Rosales said Monday several officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police had said they knew of no such intelligence report. He added that PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo even assured him that the supposed intelligence reports are nothing to worry about. Even Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, whose agency supervises the PNP, denied the intelligence information came from the PNP, he added. "Boysie (Rosales’ nickname), wala yan pero gagawin natin, papaimbestigahan natin sa Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (Boysie, don’t worry about that so-called report. But I had the DIDM investigate the matter)," Rosales recalled Bacalzo as telling him when they talked Sunday morning. Still, Rosales said he has started his own investigation into the matter. "I have to face this squarely. Gusto ko ang katotohanan ang lumabas dito. Sa kasalukuyan sa lahat ng ating kinuhang information ngayon walang gustong umako sino gumawa ng report na yan ," he said.
(I have to face this squarely. I want the truth to come out. So far no one has come out to claim responsibility for the so-called intelligence report.)
This page requires a higher version browser Rosales reiterated his challenge to his "accusers" to come out and substantiate their allegations. "My reputation has been besmirched, you have destroyed me at yung tao na yan kung sino man yan you are successful now (You besmirched my reputation, so you are successful for now). But when the truth comes out, you will suffer on this," he said. — RSJ
