President Rodrigo Duterte said the families of the drugs suspects killed in the brutal war on drugs would not receive justice even as human rights groups claim that his anti-narcotics campaign was marred with human rights abuses.
“If you think that you can get justice simply because you lost somebody who’s a b*** s** * into drugs, I’m sorry to tell you I will not allow it. Hindi talaga ako papayag,” Duterte said in a speech during the 120th founding anniversary of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in Pasay City on Monday.
The President also issued his oft-repeated assurance to the police and the military that they would not go to jail for following his orders, saying that he would rather go to jail than to see his men in prison.
“Ako ang maunang — sa kulungan but never my [police and military],” he said.
“Kaya sinabi ko sa kanila “trabaho lang kayo, ako ang bahala,” he added. “Now, what will I do? Sa amin na ‘yan. Basta walang makulong. Sigurado ‘yan. Sabi ko, “Itaya mo 120 percent miles per hour.”
Since the Duterte administration launched the war on drugs in June 2106, data from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), the lead agency in his narcotics campaign, showed that 4,279 drug personalities were killed in anti-drug operations as of May 15, 2018.
Duterte’s war on drugs came under heavy criticisms from human rights groups after thousands of suspected drug personalities were killed in police operations, including minors.
However, Duterte shrugged off these criticisms, saying his campaign against illegal drugs will last until the end of his term in 2022, revising his original timetable of six months.
In his speech on Monday, the President again threatened drug lords. “Pag binaril ka diyan alam ko drug lord ka, sagasaan kita ulit limang beses,” he said. ‘Kaya kayo mga durugista lalo na, stop it.”
He also dared human rights group criticizing his war on drugs not to to use their funds to destroy his administration.
“Gusto ng human rights, all you have to do is go into an active advocacy. You have the money, kayong mga human rights local, tatanggap naman kayo ng mga… May mga funding kayo, use it not to destroy us because for all intents and purposes, if I am really destroyed, destroyed na ako,” he said. /vvp