Screenshot of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Sona. RTVM video
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday warned that there will be more piles of dead bodies if criminals return to their “old ways.”
“I’m addressing myself to criminals. You commit all sorts of things and you harm the public, then kaaway mo na ako [and I will be your enemy],” Duterte said in his fifth State of the Nation Address.
“Pag bumalik kayo sa dati gaya noon, patong patong na naman ang patay dito. Sigurado. Hahanapin ko kayo. Do not ever go back to your old ways,” he went on.
(If you go back to your old ways, bodies will start to pile up again here. For sure. I will find you.)
Duterte also gave the assurance that the country will be “relatively peaceful” as long as he is President.
“Let me assure you, for as long as I am president, there can never be runaway crime in any of our cities. Hindi ako papayag [I will not allow it]. I can assure you we will remain peaceful, relatively peaceful,” Duterte said.