President Rodrigo Duterte: No rich Filipino person is now involved in the illegal drug trade.
MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday countered critics of his administration’s drug war, saying there are no drug dealers among the rich in the country.
He was responding to criticisms that the government’s war on drugs failed to capture any “big fish.”
“Sabi ninyo walang big fish. Walang mayaman ngayon na Pilipino na nasa droga. Kaya nga mayaman na eh,” Duterte said in his speech during the meeting of the joint national and regional task force to end local communist armed conflict.
(You say there was no big fish. No rich Filipino person is now involved in the illegal drug trade. They are already rich.)
“‘Wag kayo maghanap na big fish na mayayaman o anak ng mga mayayaman, hindi na kailangan mag-negosyo ng shabu yan, mayaman na nga eh,” he added.
(Don’t look for big fish among the rich. They no longer need to enter into the illegal drug trade. They are already rich.)
He also said the government was able to catch big-time personalities, citing the deaths of four Chinese nationals killed during a buy-bust operation in Pampanga.
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“‘Yan ang mga big fish dito,” he said.
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