Duterte:  I’m responsible for war vs drugs

MANILA — President Duterte maintained he did not mind being held responsible for the deaths of drug personalities.

Presiding over the oath-taking ceremony of newly appointed government officials in Malacañang on Monday, the President reiterated the need to stem the illegal drug trade within his six-year term despite outcry from some sectors on how the campaign against illegal drugs has been waged.

“I might come out as the antagonist here. Maybe (my hands will be) soaked with blood, but there is no way to stop it,” Mr. Duterte said. “There will be no stopping of momentum until I have destroyed the apparatus.”

“I keep on repeating (this). I will give you a clean government then I will crush the drug problem and criminality even if I have to soak my blood. So be it.”

He said the country’s drug problem has reached a “pandemic” proportion due to the failure of previous administrations to act on it decisively.

“I have to control the drug problem because if I do not interdict this problem now in this generation, it will be difficult after six years,” he said.

“I do not want to pull my own chair (but) I was just thinking that if I did not become president, given the contamination of the police into the industry, the Philippines would really be miserable.”  SFM

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