Antipolo Rep. Romeo Acop rebuked Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa for accusing the ongoing House probe into the previous administration’s war on drugs of being a “demolition job” aimed at discrediting Vice President Sara Duterte and her allies ahead of the 2028 polls.

“There’s no demolition job here, only legitimate questions that need clear answers,” said Acop, a former police general and Dela Rosa’s upperclassman at the Philippine Military Academy.

“Sen. Dela Rosa should be man enough to face the facts and take responsibility, instead of hiding behind VP Sara’s skirt.”

Former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Mabilog, who went into self-exile in the United States after being included on Duterte’s narco-list, told the House quad committee on Thursday that he narrowly escaped an alleged ambush in 2017.

He said he had been invited by Dela Rosa to Camp Crame under the pretext of clearing his name during the height of the anti-drug campaign. However, Mabilog claimed the invitation was a setup to force him to implicate former Senators Franklin Drilon and Mar Roxas as drug lords.

Mabilog said a phone call from an unnamed PNP colonel saved him from a supposed assassination attempt by at least 20 men spying on his home.

Dela Rosa, a former PNP chief under President Rodrigo Duterte who spearheaded the bloody drug war, dismissed the House inquiry as a “fishing expedition” and a “demolition job” aimed at damaging Vice President Duterte’s reputation ahead of the 2028 presidential election.

The Vice President, currently at odds with the House leadership, is seen as a front-runner in the next national polls.

Acop, vice chair of the quad committee, rejected Dela Rosa’s claims as “baseless,” emphasizing that the investigation is focused on accountability, not political maneuvering.