(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte said that he would not stop his war against illegal drugs, as he repeated his vow when he took his oath as President to “preserve the Filipino people.”
“My oath before God and country is to preserve the Filipino people. Period,” he said as he led the groundbreaking ceremony of the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) in Barangay Dapitan, Cordova, Cebu on Thursday.
“I do not need martial law. I do not need to declare a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus,” he added.
The President said that everybody, including members of the religious sector, should instead help in this fight to destroy the drug apparatus, instead of always criticizing the government’s fight against drugs and criminality.
He cited Catholic priests particularly saying they should focus their efforts on helping the Philippine government eradicate the drug menace since this is destroying the youth of the land.
“I have a country to preserve and that is the Filipino nation, and that has nothing to do with religion,” he said.
He also has this message to the Catholic clergy and all those who are threatening to put him behind bars for the government’s drug war.
“Let’s stop this because you are complicating the fight against drugs, Nobody wants to kill,” he said.
This was made in apparent reference to a report that the New York-based Human Rights Watch which said that the 71-year-old Philippine President and his men were criminally liable for the drug-war related extrajudicial killings, which they claimed may be considered as “crimes against humanity.”
“My orders to the police and the military was very clear. Go out hunt for them. Make them surrender so that we would know their connections and we would gather more evidence,” he said in his speech.
“But if they present a violent resistance, thereby placing your life in danger, p…… i… patayin mo, kaysa mamatay kayo,” he said.
“That’s my order. There’s nothing illegal there. Bakit mo ako kukulungin kung sabihin ko, papatayin kita if you destroy my country…. Why would you put me in prison. That is a legitimate statement of a president,” Duterte stressed.
The President said, “There’s a whale of a difference between killing an innocent person and killing a criminal. They ought not to be mixed up.”
He explained why he was waging a war against drugs and criminality, saying he was building a country, and what the country needed right now is peace which can only happen if there is law and order.
“I’m trying to zero in in law and order because peace is what makes a country develop and progress,” he said.
-President criticizes Catholic clergy
During his speech, he again criticized the Catholic clergy for always hurling accusations against him about human rights violations and extrajudicial killings.
“Mga pari wa nay gibuhat ug dili magyawyaw. Gwapog mga palasyo. Ibaligya na ninyo. Palit ninyog bugas ihatag sa pobre. (Priests do nothing else but rant. They live in palaces. You should sell those and use the money to buy rice for the poor),” he said.
“Mga pari, all you have to do is to convince the guys, go around and find out who are connected to drugs. I know you can do it. You have plenty of money from your collections,” he added.
The President said, “I am committed to stop drugs before I go out.”
“Which means to say, Father, monsignor, bishop, which means to say, marami pang patayan. Kasi lumalaban talaga yan. It will not end tomorrow, for as long as there is a drug pusher and a drug lord.”
Duterte said he had already lost several good soldiers and policemen who are just pursuing illegal drug syndicates, and fighting the drug war.
At one point, in his speech, out of exasperation, he again hit Catholic priests for their alleged hypocrisy.
He pointed out that “Jesus Christ was nailed to a wooden cross” while the priests use chalices and crosses made of gold.
He also repeated how he and generations of children like him before had been molested by Catholic priests.
“You know why God destroyed the churches.. to show you that you are not deserving of His mercy,” Duterte said.
He again showed a thick book containing the names of those involved in the drug apparatus. He said it was his duty to protect the youth and the country from this drug menace.
“I built a city. Now I will build a country,” vowed Duterte, who had served as mayor of Davao City for 23 years, before being elected as President.
