The top cop Filipinos call ‘Bato’ is the enforcer in President Duterte’s bloody drug war

Duterte appointed Ronald Dela Rosa his national police chief over other more senior officers, giving him free rein to roll out Davao’s harsh crime-fighting model across the country

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Four arrested Hong Kong men bow their heads as police chief Ronald Dela Rosa looks on during an inspection of an alleged floating drugs laboratory. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Published: 3:42pm, 4 Oct 2016Updated: 11:01pm, 4 Oct 2016

When Philippines police chief Ronald Dela Rosa gave a rousing speech to his men at a regional headquarters in Luzon, they rewarded him with a gift: a replica of the sword used by actor Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart.

The barrel-chested police chief grinned and gave the weapon, which is almost as long as he is tall, a practice swing. A voice on the camp’s loudspeaker declared him “the bravest of bravehearts”.

I have to encourage them to do our job. We are at war.

Police chief Ronald Dela Rosa

Dela Rosa acts as the enforcer for Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has led to more than 3,400 people being killed in just over three months.

Dela Rosa’s tour of Luzon, the country’s largest and most populous island, was the latest in a series of trips to stiffen the resolve of police officers at the campaign’s bloody frontline.

“I have to encourage them to do our job,” he told a Reuters reporter who went on the trip last month. “We are at war.”

Police said on October 3 they had shot dead 1,375 people in operations since President Duterte took office on July 1. They also report a further 2,066 “deaths under investigation”, many of which human rights activists attribute to vigilante killings.

Reuters was unable to confirm the accuracy of these numbers or the extent to which the killings have been committed by vigilantes.