President Rodrigo Duterte. FILE PHOTO FROM THE DAVAO CITY INFORMATION OFFICE
President Rodrigo Duterte has defended his move to publicly name officials allegedly involved in the illegal drugs trade, saying it was his duty to tell the public as the country’s Chief Executive.
Duterte issued the statement after Supreme Court (SC) Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno sent a letter to the President raising concern over his public declaration identifying over 150 government officials, including seven judges as allegedly linked to the illegal drug trade.
READ: Sereno writes Duterte, airs concern over naming officials, judges
“My words, is it not accusatorial, it is not a criminal information. It’s just my word against the others, because I have the duty to tell the public para malaman nila ang danger sa ating bayan, pati malaman natin kung sino ang nagpalaki ng industriya (so they would know the danger in our country and for us to know made the industry big),” he said in an interview late Monday night in Davao City.
The President said he would reply to Sereno’s letter “out of respect to the SC.”
“Susulatan ko rin si Sereno (I would also write a letter to Sereno), out of respect to the SC, I will answer,” he said.
Asked about the extent of the participation of the judges in the drug trade, Duterte answered “intervention.”
He said the names of officials he has announced were already on the list as early as five years ago.
READ: Rody names politicians, judges, cops allegedly into illegal drugs
“As early as 5 years ago, nandiyan na iyang pangalan nila, kaya nga iyong iba patay na eh. Hindi naman na-erase, kasi iyong intelligence community is not supplied with the… namatay na pala iyong asawa mo dahil na-cancer o na-stroke (As early as 5 years ago, their names have been on the list, that’s why others are already dead. Their names have not been erased because the intelligence community is not supplied with the names of those who have died, for example, your spouse has died from cancer or stroke). It’s just a private affair of the family,” he said.
The President said he has another list of those linked to illegal drugs but has yet to undergo validation.
“Marami pa ho, validation. Kasi pagdating sa akin, galing man sa intelligence community, collated iyan eh, ganoon (There are more names but are undergoing validation. Because when the information reaches me, whether it came from the intelligence community, it would be collated),” he said.
He said the next list would include barangay (villaged) captains, prosecutors and more law enforcers.
Duterte vowed that there would be a “purging” in government without him declaring martial law.
“There will be a purging actually. Without declaring martial law, I will cleanse this government,” he said. RAM/rga
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