The Bishop of Kalookan Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David vowed to stand on the side of “bullied” Filipinos as he accompanied a victim of police abuse to file a complaint against police officers.
Cardinal David appeared at the National Police Commission (Napolcom), which administers and controls the Philippine National Police, with Jayson Dela Rosa on 18 August. The cardinal, who is also the outgoing president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, spoke to reporters at Napolcom afterwards.
The case of Dela Rosa went viral, catching the attention of authorities, after David posted about it on Facebook earlier this month. The alleged abuse took place in David’s diocese in northern Metro Manila.
Dela Rosa’s 20-year-old son, Dion Angelo, recently died of leptospirosis after wading in floodwaters to search for his missing father. The Dela Rosa family did not know, at that time, that the father had been arrested for illegal gambling.
David said Dela Rosa had been wrongfully accused by abusive police officers. He recounted how Dela Rosa entered a “not guilty” plea, but his alleged co-player in an illegal street game pleaded “guilty”.
“The poor have no choice but to plead guilty to crimes they did not commit. That is hard to accept. The law should not be like that,” David said.
The cardinal appealed to Filipino police officers to “save” their institution. “I still believe that a majority of police officers are good people. Yet a few abusive ones will destroy the institution,” he said. “How will people follow the law when law enforcers themselves do not follow it?”
David, 66, is a known defender of human rights in the Philippines. He rose to national prominence after criticising the drug war, which featured widespread police abuses, under former president Rodrigo Duterte from 2016 to 2022.
Rafael Vicente Calinisan, vice chairperson of Napolcom, thanked David for accompanying Dela Rosa in filing the complaint. “His presence in our office is a symbol of trust, a symbol of the new battle that we have to wage,” Calinisan said. “We will not let you down, cardinal.”
David said in response: “I am a priest, a bishop, that is why I am here. Our mission is to side with the marginalised, especially those who are bullied. It is not the role of law enforcers to bully people.”
