MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will continue his crusade against illegal drugs even after his term, saying he will revert to his previous habit of roaming the streets to look for criminals.
“Now that I won’t be president anymore, nobody can dictate what I do. I will go riding on a motorcycle and roam around the… And I’ll search for drug peddlers, shoot them and kill them,” he said in a speech in Cebuano during the Hugpong ng Pagbabago miting de avance at the San Pedro Square in Poblacion District in Davao City on Friday.
Duterte previously revealed that he had roamed the streets of Davao City to look for criminals during his term as mayor.
Duterte likewise continued his diatribe against illegal drugs in the country.
He recalled how drug lords could escape justice by bribing the police, prosecutor, the fiscal and even the judges.
“That is why when I became mayor, I was very strict. I told them that I would build a city that is comfortable for the people to live in. I warned them not to destroy my city with drugs, especially my children, our children. If you do that here in Davao, I will really kill you,” Duterte said.
“When I became President, it was still my mantra. I told them do not destroy my country with drugs, don’t feed our children with drugs because they’re the only ones we trust. When we get older, they are the ones who will take care of us. If you turn them into idiots, p***** i** I will really come after you,” the president added.
The Duterte administration’s war on drugs was marred with allegations of extrajudicial killings and vigilante killings said to be conducted by policemen.
More than 6,000 were killed during the administration’s war on drugs as of March, according to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) as of February this year.
Duterte has admitted he was unable to end the country’s drug problem, which he promised to do in just half a year after taking office in 2016.