MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has stressed that the woman who punched and slapped a traffic enforcer in Manila would have been treated differently had authorities known immediately that she was a drug courier.
Duterte said this on Monday, as he lauded the enforcer’s calmness despite the woman’s physical attacks after she was apprehended for a traffic violation, demanding that he return the official receipt and certificate of registration (OR/ CR) of her car.
“Kita mo naman how a government personnel would handle the situation, nagpabugbog lang siya kasi babae, not knowing na courier ‘yan. Kung nalaman nila na may shabu dyan, they were couriers, ay hindi gano’n ang reaksyon,” the President said in his pre-recorded briefing.
“Talagang huhulihin ‘yan at kung baliin ‘yong kamay, baliin mo. Eh, iniipit niya ‘yong kamay no’ng (traffic enforcer). Tama ‘yon, gusto kong makilala ‘yong ano, you know, it was a grace under (pressure),” he added.
The woman that the President was referring to is the subject of a now-viral video. In the over-five minute clip, the woman was seen hitting the enforcer as she tried to retrieve the OR and CR of the vehicle.
Authorities held her OR and CR after she tried to elude traffic enforcers for beating the red light. As she was accosted, enforcers asked for her driver’s license but she was not able to provide any.
Later on, officers from the Manila Police District and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno himself claimed that the woman was allegedly a drug courier, who was connected to three other individuals arrested in a separate occasion.
Moreno said that the woman’s bag yielded several illegal substances when inspected by arresting officers.
But Duterte said that had the traffic operatives known at the time that she was a drug courier, the woman would have been dragged out of her car.
“Sabihin ko sa’yo kung droga ‘yon hindi ganyan ang reaksyon ng (authorities). Talagang hilain ‘yan tapos pababain,” he said.
‘May mamamatay na naman’
Duterte then talked lengthily his war on drugs campaign as the Philippine National Police opens some of its drug war data for the Department of Justice to look into.
The President again defended his program, saying that it is expected that people die from the drug war especially as they fight against officers trained to kill.
According to Duterte, the same thing would have happened if the woman brought a firearm with her.
“Ngayon, kung may baril ‘yon, ah barilan na. May mamamatay na naman. Buti na lang at hindi nagdadala ng baril ‘yong mga… ito ‘yong mga basurero eh, basura ‘yon, tawag sa kanila basurero. Hindi ‘yon drug lord, maliit lang ‘yon, nagdedeliver, courier nga,” Duterte said.
“Ibig sabihin tiga dala. Kasi kung drug lord ‘yon, ah patay. Hindi ako mag-ano kung drug lord ka, tapos puro sako ang (dala) mo, patay ka talaga,” she added.
While the police’s move to open its records garnered praise even from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), some sectors were still skeptical of the PNP’s intentions, adding that it would be a test of honesty for newly-installed PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar.