President Duterte has pledged to end communism and reduce the country’s drug problem to the barest minimum during his term.
The President explained that addressing these security concerns is part of his constitutional mandate to serve and protect the people.
“People should realize that in it is in my generation, it is during my time that I should be doing things to protect them, to make them easy. I fight the wars,” Duterte said during his interview over Russian television network RT last week.
“I want to end it now. I want to end communism. I want to end the drug problems or at least reduce them to barest minimum so that the next generation will not have so many problems,” he said.
Asked if he will be remembered as a leader who solved or created problems, Duterte said there was “no need to remember” him in the future.
“Let me say it here and now, drugs can destroy, uncontrolled drugs in a country will destroy itself. I’ve told everybody that if you destroy my country, like the Philippines with drugs, I will kill you,” he said.
Duterte had earlier declared that the illegal drug problem and the communist insurgency have been dragging down the country’s economic growth. He has denounced past rebel atrocities but recently hinted about plans to jumpstart the peace talks.
On the war on drugs, Duterte has vowed to sustain the relentless campaign despite human rights concerns raised by some groups.
The President found nothing wrong with defending the country from the threats posed by the illegal drugs trade in the interview.
“Tell me if it is wrong to be passionately defending your country against drugs,” he said.
He recognized the threat confronting the country, citing the involvement of some foreign drug syndicates in the proliferation of drugs in the country. He said the illegal drugs, particularly cocaine, were being smuggled by the Bamboo Triad and other drug cartels. (Genalyn Kabiling)
