Rodrigo Duterte —AFP
DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday complained that he had emerged as the bad boy in the war on drugs because of what he said was his desire to save the country’s youth from the evils of illegal drugs.
Speaking at the 25th anniversary of preschool, Center for Brighter Beginnings here which dozens of children had attended, the President said he wanted only “the good people to roam this Earth.”
But because of his fight against illegal drugs, Duterte said he was now being painted as the bad guy.
“Others were saying I am a bad boy because I hurt bad people. Others even say I send (bad people) to heaven, that’s why (I am bad),” the President said.
But he said what he was doing was to make sure that children would have a bright future.
“Do you know children why I get angry even on TV? Because those bad people, I don’t want them in this world. I want them gone so that nobody will disturb your life anymore,” he added.
“I want you to grow in peace, no trouble, no thieves, no kidnappers. Nothing of this sort (of problems),” the President said.
One objective
He said the only reason he became President was because of the youth of the land.
“It’s my job to protect you and our society. If you see that everything is working, functional, and there are no more problems, it would be OK already. We’re finished there,” Duterte said.
He said his decision to address the drug problem—starting from his stint as mayor — had proven to be correct despite the criticisms hurled against him.
Duterte said even President Donald Trump had recently found how dangerous drug addiction was.
“Before I left, I was viewing CNN. Trump had declared a national emergency because of drugs. I told you so,” he said.
Trump declared opioid abuse a national public health emergency and announced new steps to combat what he described as the worst drug crisis in US history.
“It is time to liberate our communities from this scourge of drug addiction,” he said. “We can be the generation that ends the opioid epidemic,” said Trump.
Duterte’s pain killer
Deaths in the US have surged from opioids, which include some prescribed painkillers, heroin and synthetic drugs like fentanyl, often sold on the nation’s streets.
Mr. Duterte, who had admitted taking fentanyl as pain killer, recounted that the US government then, under President Barack Obama, had investigated his war on drugs.
“I said before when Obama was investigating that one day, to your sorrow. Now look. They just declared. I just listened,” he said.
“Now, what? It’s my turn to ask, what now? And so, America. It was your idol before. Now look. So what’s happening to America? It is in total disorder,” he said.
Duterte said he had been saying that time will come the US would realize the need to seriously combat drugs.
“I saw it a long time ago. I was still mayor and I already saw the devastation that it would cause,” he said.
Duterte also downplayed criticisms of EJKs, saying he never ordered any criminal to be killed.
“We bleed. I know that killing is unlawful. But my order really to the police is go out and hunt for them. Arrest them if it is still possible,” he said. —Allan Nawal