Dela Rosa to implement tokhang-style campaign: ‘Knock and plead’

Sen. Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)

MANILA, Philippines — A tokhang-style campaign?

Reelectionist Sen. Bato dela Rosa on Tuesday said he is going to utilize a “tokhang-style” campaign for the upcoming 2025 midterm polls.

Tokhang is a made-up word popularized during former president Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal drug campaign.

It was formed by joining common Visayan terms together: “toktok” or knock, “hangyo” or request or plead.

In an ambush interview, dela Rosa was asked how he would step up in terms of campaigning, to which he answered that he would strengthen his house to house visits.

“Sanay naman tayo sa tokhang ‘di ba? Binabahay bahay natin yung mga bahay, kinakatok natin ‘di ba?” said dela Rosa.

Being Rodrigo Duterte’s former top cop, dela Rosa was also the chief implementer of the former president’s brutal campaign against illegal drugs — which landed him on the roster of Duterte administration officials who were accused of crimes against humanity by drug war victims-families before the International Criminal Court.

READ: Bato dela Rosa urged to explain role in Duterte ‘drug war’ before ICC

Asked if he means that he would implement a “tokhang-style” campign, he answered yes.

“Oo, tokhang talaga. Toktok, hangyo — Knock and plead. Katukin mo ang pinto ng bahay, pag open you smile [then] you plead — “Pwede niyo ba akong iboto?O ganon,” he explained.

READ: Bato dela Rosa admits: ‘I am afraid of going to jail’

But wouldn’t this cause division and confusion among the public?

Dela Rosa simply said that he’s well aware that anyone who hates tokhang wouldn’t vote for him.