(Eagle News)—President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, March 24, said over one million Filipinos were “slaves” to shabu.
The President said in a speech in Cagayan de Oro that the 1.6 million Filipinos only covered then-Philippine National Police chief Ronald dela Rosa’s term, and was therefore only a “conservative figure.”
“Tell me if you are happy, if I tell you now that we have 1.6 million slaves, Filipino slaves to a drug called shabu,” Duterte said.
The President has been vocal of the threats illegal drugs poses to Philippine society, and has launched since he assumed office a war on drugs.
Critics of the President let by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed communications against Duterte before the International Criminal Court, citing what they said were the thousands of people killed in the war.
The President, however, has maintained the deaths were merely from drug suspects who resisted arrest and attacked policemen, and has warned against the consequences for policemen who use the drug war as a pretext to commit crimes.
ICC prosecutor Bensou Fatuoda announced a preliminary examination of the communications, prompting Duterte to announce the country’s withdrawal from the tribunal, which he had said infringed on the country’s sovereignty.
The Philippines’ withdrawal became official in March.
