📋 Tender Overview
Senator Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa on Thursday filed his certificate of candidacy before the Commission on Elections to formalize his re-election bid in the 2025 national and local polls. Dela Rosa is seeking his second term in the Senate under the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) to continue his advocacy on public order and national security.
"Given the chance that I will win, rest assured that I will continue my advocacy on public order and national defense and security. That's where I will focus," Dela Rosa said. "For public order, I will continue my fight against illegal drugs and criminality and for national defense and security, we will see to it that our national defense posture is credible enough against foreign invaders," he said. For the former top cop-turned-senator, the fight against illegal drugs should continue even through legislation. He vowed to refile a bill seeking to reimpose death penalty for high-level drug traffickers if re-elected in the 2025 polls.
"The restoration of death penalty for high-level drug traffickers. I'm a little difficult on that but rest assured, I won't stop there. I'll still fight for it in the next congress if I'm lucky," the Mindanaoan lawmaker said. "I am going to risk my life, I am going to risk my career, my personal life for that fight. I will not back down because we launched President Duterte's war on drugs, no We did that to get rich, to make money. We did that to save the future of our youth because drugs are really rampant," he stressed.
Dela Rosa also vowed to push for stiffer penalties against high-profile drug personalities as he noted that some of them are even running again for elective positions now that former President Rodrigo Duterte is no longer in power. "We have to continue what is good for this country. Let's not let those criminals. Now, there are drug lords running for mayor again. They will now dare to file a COC. Drugs During President Duterte's time, they were hiding. Now, they are filing a COC," he said.
In line with his advocacy on national defense and security, Dela Rosa said he will also refile the bill seeking to revive the mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps program if he will be given a chance to serve again in the Senate. "The return of the mandatory ROTC because we really need it now, especially the looming threat in the West Philippine Sea," Dela Rosa said.
"Kailangan natin ng malakas na reserves and the only way that we can have a reserve that can be mobilized anytime is through ROTC," he added. With more than 19 million votes, Dela Rosa was elected in the Senate in 2019 under the banner of the PDP-Laban.
Being a former Philippine National Police, Dela Rosa played a vital role in passing laws related in public order and security, such as the Anti-Terrorism Act, BFP Modernization Act, and the law lowering the minimum height requirement for applicants in the Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and Bureau of Correction (BuCor), among others.
A son of a fish market vendor and a tricycle driver, Dela Rosa's legislative priorities also included measures that will address the plight of Filipino workers. He has co-sponsored the bill seeking to increase the daily minimum wage by P100. The measure has already been approved on third and final reading by the Senate.
Among the other measures that he supported are the bill providing for the Magna Carta of Filipino seafarers, the bill protecting the welfare of caregivers, the bill institutionalizing the teaching supplies allowance for public school teachers, and the bill providing direct financial assistance to Filipino farmers.
While Dela Rosa is known for his masculine and strong personality, his legislative work is a testament that the senator's heart has a soft spot for the general public and the less privileged. A heart that is tender for the Filipino people, but cold for the enemies of the state.
