Duterte: There will be blood in ‘cleansing’ this country

PDP-LABAN presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte means business when it comes to fighting crime, and there will be blood.

“If I become president, there would be no such thing as bloodless cleansing,” Duterte said in a speech during a forum at the De La Salle University in Manila on Wednesday.

Duterte was referring to criminals in the Philippines who carry out robberies and murders with seeming impunity that leave people feeling helpless.

Asked to elaborate his statement during an interview after the forum, he said “there could be no cleansing that is bloodless.”

He cited the rising criminality in the country, some, he said, were perpetrated by drug addicts.

“My God, I hate drugs. And I have to kill people because I hate drugs,” he said.

He said he would return peace and order within the three to six months of his term as president if elected.

“I would return to you the right to walk out at night safe and ride a jeepney without being held up,” he said.

With his iron-fist approach to restore peace and order, the tough-talking Duterte explained that his fight against criminality and drug addiction “would always be in accordance with the law.”

“I do not execute people kneeling down with hands tied at their back. It will be a confrontation,” he said.

He said “the obedience to law is almost optional,” citing the rising criminality and drug problems in the country.

He vowed to deliver his promise of fighting criminals  and bring peace and order to the country “even if it would cost me my life, my honor, and even my liberty.”