Duterte’s 3-6 months vow ‘close to impossible’—Querubin

Retired Marine Colonel Ariel Querubin on Saturday said the campaign promise of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to eradicate criminality in the country within three to six months should he win the presidency was almost impossible.

Querubin, whom presidential aspirant Senator Grace Poe said she would appoint as crime czar if she wins on May 9, told INQUIRER.net that even more developed countries with more advanced facilities do not have time frames in curbing crimes.

“It’s close to impossible because even developed countries like the US or UK for example, with all their sophisticated, state-of-the-art surveillance equipment, they don’t give any time frames to eradicate criminality,” Querubin said in an interview at the sidelines of an art exhibit at the Kamuning Bakery in Quezon City.

“Don’t put a time frame. Even during the martial law years, taon ang ginawala nila (they spent years trying), but still crime was not eradicated,” he added.

READ: Duterte: Kill me if I fail to bust crime, corruption in 6 months

Poe, during the second presidential debate in Cebu last month, said she would appoint Querubin as crime czar if she wins the presidency. Querubin said he approved when the senator asked his permission if she could mention his name, adding that he would be “willing to serve under her pleasure.”

READ: Lacson: Querubin a ‘good choice’ as anti-crime czar

Querubin said Duterte’s vow was “all balls,” urging the tough-talking mayor to stop fooling the people and present a concrete plan of action on how he would stop criminality.

READ: Lacson: Duterte can’t do it in 3-6 months

“What we need is a concrete plan, a good strategy to combat this. Madali lang sabihin kung ano ‘yung gustong pakinggan ng mga tao. Pero dapat pag-usapan natin ‘to, hindi ba puro balls lang, kasi puro ganun eh, forgive me for mentioning, puro bayag lang. Dapat pag-isipin din natin itong mga sinasabi natin. Huwag na nating lokohin ang mga tao,” he said.

(What we need is a concrete plan, a good strategy to combat this. It’s easy rhetoric to just mention what the people want to hear. But we need to talk about this; and not just let our balls do the talking. We need to think about the things we are talking about. We should not fool the people.)

“Three to six months, it’s close to impossible, even if you say you have political will. Remember, they don’t have the monopoly of political will,” Querubin added.

But the former colonel affirmed Duterte’s statement that the threat of illegal drugs has become a national security issue, adding that soldiers and cops should be tapped in the war against drugs.

“I agree with the mayor when he said that illegal drugs are now a threat to national security…So you can use the Armed Forces as the lead agency with the support of course of the police because I believe that criminality at this stage really has become the biggest major problem of the country. So with the Armed Forces there, it will easily enforce the law with the help of PNP (Philippine National Police),” he said.

Citing a need for a good strategy against crime, Querubin said the Philippines will be a safe place to live in under a Poe presidency, welcoming the senator’s statement that Filipinos will be secure within one month of her leadership by appointing a decent PNP chief.

“That’s a good plan. That’s a good step. It’s seems that the credibility of police enforcers, particularly the PNP, has been tarnished with all these. So putting a credible, a man with integrity is a good move. Tapos kung maganda pa ‘yung programa ng anti-crime czar, hand-in-hand, maiaayos to (Working hand-in-hand with an anti-crime czar who has good programs will help) make this country a safe place to live in. I really believe that with a Poe presidency, the country will be safe,” he said.

Reacting to Duterte’s statement that he would appoint her as social welfare or tourism secretary in his administration, Poe said she would offer the feisty mayor the post of crime czar, but noted that she expects him to solve the crime problem in his given time frame.

READ: Poe has job for Duterte: Crime buster

Duterte, known for his iron-fist style of leadership in his home turf, has been widely criticized for his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings and links to the so-called Davao Death Squad. IDL