Drug gangs allegedly out to neutralize Duterte, possible presidential bid

DAVAO City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte LITO TECSON/CEBU DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY – Big drug syndicates have allegedly hatched a plan to stop Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte from winning the presidency should he decide to run, his camp said.

Emmanuel Piñol, the former governor of North Cotabato who is now with Duterte’s camp, said they received a “raw but reliable intelligence report” on Friday evening that “big drug lords based in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao have linked up to put up a united front against [a] Duterte.”

“Information gathered showed that there are three strategies to be employed in neutralizing Duterte,” Piñol said.

He said the first option was to “eliminate Duterte before he could even decide to run for the Presidency through assassination.”

Another move the drug syndicates had considered was the use of massive black propaganda against Duterte.

“The third would be the use of drug money during the campaign period and the elections to ensure the defeat of Duterte,” Piñol said.

He said that Duterte, who has been on a listening tour across the country, was already “advised to beef up his security.”

“Security analysts said that while the intelligence report still has to undergo validation, a concerted effort by the drug syndicates against a Presidential prospect who could work against the drug operations in the country is highly probable,” Piñol said.

Duterte is known for his tough stance against drug suspects and warned that the youth might become a “damaged generation” if the government fails to address the worsening problem on illegal drugs.

READ: Duterte on criminals: ‘Kill all of them’ | Duterte tells youth gangs: I’ll break your bones

Duterte issued the said statement after the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) claimed that 92 percent of the barangays (villages) in Metro Manila alone have drug problem.

The feisty mayor had always bragged about Davao City as an example of how the anti-drugs campaign should be carried out – killing suspects when necessary.

READ: Davao rated 9th safest city in the world

But he denied ordering the execution of any drug suspect here, saying his order to the police was clear: to only fire at suspects if they fight back.

In 2005, six Chinese nationals were killed after they allegedly tried to fight authorities, who raided their shabu laboratory in Talomo. IDL