Ronald dela Rosa

Early life and education

Dela Rosa was born on January 21, 1962 at Barangay Bato, Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, to Teodoro Diamaton dela Rosa, Sr. and Anesia Cruspero Marapon. His family was "dirt poor" as his father earned little money working as a tricycle driver. The young Dela Rosa worked as a fish market porter and bus conductor. He also did his classmates' homework in exchange for lunch. He used to walk 8 kilometers daily from school to home.

Dela Rosa was educated at Bato Elementary School and Sta. Cruz National High School before earning his Bachelor of Science degree in public administration from Mindanao State University in 1982. In the same year, he entered the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and graduated in 1986 as part of PMA Sinagtala class. He then earned a Masters of Public Administration degree in 1998 and a Ph.D. in development administration in 2006 from the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) in Davao City.

Early career, 1986–2012

Dela Rosa joined the police force in 1986 as a Lieutenant of the now-defunct Philippine Constabulary in Davao City. In 1992, he was designated as Chief Inspector and worked as one of the staff at Police Regional Office (PRO)-Davao. In 1997, he was designated as police provincial director of Compostela Valley province. In 1999, he was assigned to the office of the Police Director of the Philippine National Police (PNP) at Camp Crame in Quezon City. In 2001, he returned to PRO-Davao and continued his service as deputy chief of the Office of the Regional Personnel and Human Resource and Development Division (ORPHRDD) of Region XI. In 2003, he was promoted to Police Superintendent and was assigned to Camp Catitipan in Davao City. He was then transferred to the Directorate for Human Resources Doctrine and Development as head of training. In 2005, he was assigned to the Davao City Police Office (DCPO) as city personnel officer. After eight months, he was transferred back to PRO-Davao and was promoted as chief of the Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division (RIID). In 2007, he became the director of the Compostela Valley Provincial Police Office (CVPPO) as its police chief. In 2008, he was promoted to a rank of Senior Superintendent. In 2009, he was moved to Davao del Sur where he served as director of the Davao del Sur Provincial Police Office (DSPPO). In 2011, he became the chief of the Regional Logistics and Research Development Division (RL-RDD) in PRO-Davao. In 2012, he was assigned to Davao City as the new director of the Davao City Police Office.

Davao City Police Chief, 2012–2013

Dela Rosa served as the chief of the Davao City Police Office from January 2012 to October 2013 under Mayors Sara Duterte (in office: June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2013) and Rodrigo Duterte (in office: June 30, 2013 – June 30, 2016). In 2012, he led the crackdown on the carnapping syndicate allegedly masterminded by Ryan "Baktin" Yu. In July 2013, he headed the successful rescue of the kidnapped Filipino-Chinese businesswoman Sally Chua. He also directed the implementation of Oplan Tokhang (Cebuano portmanteau for tuktok, "knock", and hangyo, "persuade") a campaign against illegal drugs where the police literally knock on the doors of suspected drug users and distributors and persuade them to cease their illegal activities; and Oplan Pakgang, (Cebuano portmanteau for “Pitulon ang Kabatan-onan sa Gang”, “Disciplining Youths in Gangs”) where the police, through a series of lectures and discussions, discouraged Davao City’s youth from joining criminal gangs and other illegal activities.

Camp Crame, 2013–2016

After serving as Davao City Police Chief, Dela Rosa was assigned to the national headquarters of the Philippine National Police in Camp Crame where he worked for the PNP Intelligence Group from October 2013 to December 2014.

In 2015, Dela Rosa became a member of the PNP Board of Inquiry which investigated the Mamasapano clash. The aforementioned incident claimed the lives of 44 Special Action Force commandos, 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front members and five civilians while the cops were on a mission to arrest international terrorist Zulkifli Abdhir, alias Marwan.

Dela Rosa also served as the executive officer of the Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development (HRDD).

A few days before the May 9, 2016 Philippine general election, Dela Rosa was relieved as brigade commander of the Reactionary Standby Support Force (RSSF) of the Philippine National Police allegedly due to his Facebook posts seen to be in favor of then presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte. A Facebook status posted on May 1, 2016 which has gone viral read:

Another Facebook post dated April 26, 2016 said:

During the PiliPinas Debates 2016 – Luzon leg, the third and final presidential debate, Duterte said that his main campaign donor was Emilio Aguinaldo, while Liberal Party standard-bearer Mar Roxas quoted Batman. However, Dela Rosa's commanding officer at that time, PNP deputy chief for operations Deputy Director General Danilo Constantino, denied that Dela Rosa's Facebook posts were the main reasons why he relieved of his duty. According to Deputy Director General Constantino, Chief Superintendent Dela Rosa was relieved from the Reactionary Standby Support Force (RSSF) so that he could focus on his responsibilities as executive officer of the PNP Directorate for Human Resource and Doctrine Development (HRDD). Nonetheless, Constantino stated that the PNP Internal Affairs Service will investigate Dela Rosa's Facebook posts for possible administrative liabilities; the officers of the Philippine National Police are required to be neutral and apolitical during the elections.

Director General of the Philippine National Police, 2016–present

Dela Rosa was handpicked by then presumptive President Rodrigo Duterte as the new PNP Chief on May 19, 2016. On July 1, 2016, he was officially sworn in as the 21st chief of the Philippine National Police while being promoted to Director-General, the highest-ranked PNP officer.

Personal life

Dela Rosa is married and has three children. During his wedding, then-Mayor (and now President) Rodrigo Duterte stood as one of the principal sponsors. Duterte and Dela Rosa had known each other since 1986. He has described Duterte as "the greatest influence" in his career.

Dela Rosa is a Catholic. In a June 2016 radio interview on DZMM, Dela Rosa mentioned that he frequently goes to confession to seek forgiveness after he has killed criminals, declaring that he is "no cold-blooded killer".

Since he became PNP chief, he has appeared or guested in several TV shows, most notably in the Trabahula segment of ABS-CBN's noontime variety show, It's Showtime, and GMA's sunday variety show, Sunday PinaSaya where he met Rodney "Dugong" Juterte, President Rodrigo Duterte's comedic impersonator portrayed by Jose Manalo.

Dela Rosa is a longtime fan of PBA basketball team Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.