Duterte won’t shut his mouth in antidrug war
PRESIDENT Duterte on Tuesday rejected his allies’ advice that he shut his mouth until he learned to be a statesman to avoid more embarrassment for the Philippines because of his intemperate language.
In a speech before local officials from Luzon at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City, Mr. Duterte said he would not stop making “noise” because his war on drugs could lose steam, allowing drug lords to capture the next generation of Filipinos.
“Gordon said I should stop making noise. No, I cannot stop because I will lose my momentum and I cannot afford it because I am now the President. The momentum has to be there until the last pusher is taken out on the streets. I cannot remain silent. Whose shit is it? Mine, this is my country,” he said.
Allies’ advice
Sen. Richard Gordon, an administration ally, said on Monday that Mr. Duterte was “falling on his own sword” by making too much noise about his drug war when he could do it more effectively in silence.
House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas also suggested that Mr. Duterte do “not speak anymore” until he could adjust to refinement required of statesmen.
But Mr. Duterte said he did not run for President to be a statesman and that there was no law that made it a crime for the President or a mayor to threaten to kill criminals.
“If I stop or I slow down, it will continue again because of money. They will come back again,” he said, referring to drug lords driven out of business by his war against narcotics.
He said there were mayors who protected drug lords and that if he had his way, “I will order the chief of police himself to kill the mayor.”
Mr. Duterte went on to launch fresh tirades against the United States and its allies for criticizing him for his bloody war on drugs.
“For the life of me, I’d rather kneel before the king of Brunei or Thailand but I will never [kneel] before the Americans,” he said.
He said US President Barack Obama, the US state department and foreign-funded private groups merely rode on the “garbage” that his political rivals threw against him—the extrajudicial killings in Davao City—when he ran for President.
PRESIDENT Duterte INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC
“When you’re at the receiving end of an uncontrollable wrath, the only way out is through insult, that was my retaliation to them. I say to them, ‘You sons of bitches,’” he said.
Lost faith in US
Mr. Duterte said he doubted whether the Americans would sacrifice their lives for the Philippines.
He cited the war games with US forces, which he said he believed benefited only the Americans because the weapons being used were incompatible and therefore useless for the Philippine military.
“I really lost my faith in the Americans,” he said. “You can go to hell, state department. You can go to hell, Obama. You can go to hell, EU. You can choose purgatory because hell is full. Why will I be afraid of you?” he said.
In a speech at the Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Mr. Duterte said he wanted US special forces out of Mindanao to appease young Moros and prevent them from going to the terrorists’ side.
He said the Islamic State (IS) group of jihadists in Iraq and Syria was fast losing territory in the Middle East and looking for a “new frontier.”
“From what I just have read and talks with the intelligence community of other countries, especially in the Middle East, it looks like they are looking for a new frontier. And I think Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines are next,” he said.
In Malacañang, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said Mr. Duterte did not need to change the way he talked because the former mayor of Davao City appeared to be adjusting to his new role.
