(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte warned barangay officials who are still engaged in the illegal drug trade that he would not have any middle ground in dealing with criminals.
“Basta ako dito sa drugs, zero tolerance ako. There is no middle ground here. Hindi ako maglalaro sa droga. I do not talk to criminals,” Duterte said in answer to reporters’ questions on barangay officials involved in drugs, shortly after his arrival Friday morning, April 13, from his trip to China and Hong Kong.
The President said that if these officials are arrested, he would not accept any apologies.
“Ngayong magkaharap tayo eventually because I know it from as a mayor for the longest time you are caught, you are brought to my office and you start to say you a narrative of apologies, I do not go for that kind of… , he said.
President Duterte, who was elected in the May 2016 elections on a platform of eliminating corruption and criminality, including illegal drugs, warned all those who will run for elections, including the barangay polls, that he would make sure that they would pay for their crimes.
-Warning to those running in barangay polls-
“Kaya ito hindi ko masigurado but just a warning kung sino man ‘yung tumatakbo ngayon, 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 said.
“Kayong mga durugista, do not help me attain my objective at the expense of your lives. ‘Di ba?”
“Hindi nila alam ang laro diyan. Kung maabot ko ‘yung ambisyon na zero and it could cost you your life or your liberty for that matter because the police and military will be active against you,” he said.
When asked if he would release the list of barangay officials connected with illegal drugs, the President said, “I will sleep on that issue. I’ll give it a thought.”
“Kasi I have to make sure that it does not affect the freedom of the people to elect their own leaders because this is democracy. So I have to think about this crucial issue,” he added.
The barangay and youth elections will be held on May 14.
The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has reminded all candidates to prepare for the filing of their certificate of candidacies which is scheduled from April 14, Saturday, to April 20, Friday.
The House of Representatives wanted the polls to be postponed to October this year, with the House Suffrage and Electoral Reforms Committee voting in favor of this postponement to October 8.
But the Senate had no counterpart measure for this postponement.
The President had earlier postponed the conduct of barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections twice because of fears that the incumbent barangay officials who have links with the illegal drug syndicates could be re-elected.
The elections were initially scheduled on October 31, 2016, but this was moved to October 23, 2017. This was further moved to May 14, 2018 after President Duterte signed Republic Act 10952.
(Eagle News Service)