GAPAN CITY, Nueva Ecija, July 23 — A Nueva Ecija official, who lost two siblings in a senseless violent incident several years ago, has expressed belief that President Rodrigo Duterte was “heaven sent” to put things in order for the Philippines even as he would give him a perfect score of 10.
“Not because President Duterte is my ally but I salute him for all the things he has done,” first termer Mayor Emerson Pascual said.
Pascual, who ran under the PDP-Laban in 2016 elections, said he cannot imagine where the country is at present if Duterte had not become the president.
Pascual is a member of the anti-crime group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) having his two siblings Erickson and Ebertson killed, along with three others, when some 20 heavily armed men stormed their family-owned Gapan Coliseum and Cockpit Arena and opened fire during a derby on March 20, 2006.
In 2013, Pascual himself was fired at by unidentified gunmen here. Four people, including a policeman and a student bystander, were killed in the attack.
“There are some who are criticizing him. But, let us just imagine in case he did not become the President. Other past presidents did not do what President Duterte is doing now in the war against drugs,” he said.
“President Duterte was heaven sent to the Filipinos,” Pascual said, saying that such relentless campaign against illegal drugs has made this city a safer place to live and work in.
In adherence to the Chief Executive’s policy against illegal drugs, Pascual said they have established a “Bahay Pagbabago” where hundreds of former drug dependents have been reformed.
These reformists, aside from being treated physically and spiritually, were given skills training through the Provincial Manpower and Training Center (PMTC).
Bahay Pagbabago reformist in this city leave the facility with certificates in various skills that can be used in working overseas, he added. (Marilyn Espiritu-Galang/PNA)