Bato dela Rosa: Acorda assured ex-PNP chiefs he did nothing wrong

Retired Police General Benjamin Acorda Jr. has assured a group composed of former chiefs of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that he did nothing wrong, Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa said Wednesday.

According to Dela Rosa, Acorda made the remark in the group chat of former PNP chiefs where the two of them were part of.

"General Acorda gave us the assurance, the members of the Council of Chiefs, na wala siyang ginagawang masama. 'Yun lang sabi niya na wala siyang ginagawang masama," Dela Rosa said in a press conference.

(General Acorda assured us, the members of the Council of Chiefs, that he has done nothing wrong. That's all he said, that he has done nothing wrong.)

At the continuation of the Senate investigation into illegal POGOs on Tuesday, photos of Acorda together with Tony Yang were presented.

Tony Yang is the brother of Michael Yang, an economic adviser to former President Rodrigo Duterte. The elder Yang is being linked to a suspected POGO hub in Cagayan de Oro and a POGO service provider.

Yang denied having any current business related to POGOs. However, he admitted that he previously rented out a condominium unit to a POGO named Jiu Shui.  

The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said Tony Yang was allegedly in a transaction with dismissed Bamban, Tarlac mayor Alice Guo during the height of POGO operations in her town.

While Acorda gave assurance to his fellow ex-PNP chiefs, Dela Rosa said the former "will be given his time to explain before the committee in the next hearing.

"I-explain niya sarili niya. And I'm sure he can explain that properly. Kung ano talaga, bakit siya nagpa-picture," the senator said, noting that anyone can take a picture with anybody especially if you are a PNP chief.

(He should explain himself and I'm sure he can explain properly why he had a picture with Yang.)

Earlier today, Acorda issued a brief comment on the photos with Yang.

"Masasabi ko lang, I love my country and the PNP organization. Kung ano'ng dapat gawin ng isang Pilipino at bilang police officer ay ginawa ko,” Acorda said in a statement to reporters.

(I can only say, I love my country and the PNP organization. I did what a Filipino and a police officer should do.)

Dela Rosa also disclosed that Acorda also made clear to them that he was not the former PNP chief rumored to have helped Guo escape the country.

"Sabi niya doon sa aming group chat na I'm not the one. I'm not the one. I'm not doing bad. So 'yan lang ang explanation niya sa amin," he said.

(He told us in our group chat that it wasn't him. He kept saying, 'I'm not the one, I'm not doing anything bad.' That was his only explanation to us.)

Dela Rosa noted that the source of the information alleging a former PNP chief of receiving a bribe to help Guo escape has already clarified that the claim was just a rumor.

PAGCOR senior vice president Raul Villanueva on Tuesday apologized for releasing raw information on a supposed role of a former PNP chief to the escape of Guo. —AOL, GMA Integrated News