DAVAO CITY – President Rodrigo Duterte warned candidates in the barangay elections that his policy and strategy on illegal drugs will be applied against them if they are into the narco-trade.
Duterte reminded poll bets that there are no quarter given and no quarter asked on anyone involved in illegal drugs.
“Basta ako dito sa drugs, zero tolerance ako. There is no middle ground here. Hindi ako maglalaro sa droga (For me if it’s drugs, it is zero tolerance. There is no middle ground here. I am not into this kind of game). I do not talk to criminals,” he said during the press interview upon his arrival from China on Friday in Davao City.
Asked if he will finally show the list of barangay officials involved in illegal drugs, Duterte said he will give it a thought and sleep on it sometime because he does not want to affect the freedom of the people to elect their own leaders.
“This is democracy. So I have to think about this crucial issue,” the President said.
He said there is also a need to let the people know they might elect the wrong guy. “Then we go back into this rigmarole again of denials and everything, and even mayors getting killed along the way,” he stressed.
“Kaya ito hindi ko masigurado but just a warning kung sino man ‘yung tumatakbo ngayon (I cannot assure but just a warning to whoever run – for election) the same policy will apply to you. And the same strategy that I am adopting is good until the end of my term to the very last day,” he warned.
Duterte said he has told Congress that government has no full control on the drugs trade but, there has been a downtrend.
“My job is to see to it that there is no scale to use the danger of drugs. Kung maari lang zero. Kayong mga durugista, do not help me attain my objective at the expense of your lives (If possible zero. You drug addicts, do not help me attain my objective at the expense of your lives),” he urged.
“Kung maabot ko ‘yung ambisyon na zero (If I achieve my goal of zero) and it could cost you your life or your liberty for that matter because the police and military will be active against you,” Duterte added.
The President said the danger level of drugs is about eight and a half in a scale of 10. It is on a downtrend although government has not yet fully controlled the trade.
“So I think there’s a few guys out there operating the laboratories,” he said.
Duterte said the drug trade is not only affecting the Philippines but other countries as well.
In China, the drug problem was also discussed between Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Duterte said it was mentioned several times during the bilateral meeting and the need to focus attention to it as both countries face the same problem.
“It’s going to be a long fight. It will transcend my presidency. And the next president has to deal with it eyeball-to-eyeball whether he likes it or not,” he said. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
