Duterte to Malabon mayor: Clean up drug problem or face arrest

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday warned Malabon City Mayor Antolin “Len Len” Oreta III that he will face arrest if he fails to address the drug problem in the city in a month.

“Mayor linisin mo ang Malabon mo, bigyan kita ng isang buwan (Mayor, clean up Malabon. I’ll give you one month),” Duterte said in his speech during the campaign rally of PDP-Laban in Malabon City.

“Sabihin ko kay (Cong.) Ricky (Sandoval), sorry na lang ha pahuli ko mayor niyo. Itapon na lang sa Manila Bay (I’ll tell Ricky, sorry I will have your mayor arrested. We’ll throw him in Manila Bay),” he added.

Oreta is seeking his final term as mayor in the May elections, and is running against Sandoval’s wife, Jeannie, in the mayoral race.

Oreta is running under the former ruling Liberal Party and is a cousin of opposition Senator Bam Aquino.

The Sandoval couple, meanwhile, is running under Duterte’s PDP-laban. /ee