With his patience running thin, President Duterte has threatened to finish off the “vultures” engaged in the illegal recruitment of Filipino workers.
The President issued the warning after disclosing plans to raise the threat level of illegal recruitment to the rank of the country’s drug problem.
“Sinasabi ko na sa inyong mga recruiter, huwag kayong pumasok diyan. ‘Pag ako’y naubusan ng pasensya, patayin ko kayo. Simple lang,” he said. “The easiest way for now to get an employment is there are so many vultures, the illegal recruitment. And one of these days I will raise you to the level of a drug problem and I will take care of you,” he added.
The President has expressed outrage that some Filipino workers endured abuse and maltreatment when they work abroad.
As slavery appeared prevalent in some Arab tribes, he lamented that some workers are forced to work for long hours, deprived of sufficient food and sleep. He noted that some have even jumped off a window just to end their misery.
“That explains the reason why there is a uniformity of statements when they come back that they have only three hours of sleep and they eat garbage,” he said.
He noted that the troubled worker’s problems worsens when he or she returns home and finds out a family member is hooked on illegal drugs. “If the father goes down because of drugs, it will be a dysfunctional family for all. There is no more food on the table, there is no more discipline for the children, and the wife and husband invariably will separate,” he said.
The President had earlier ordered authorities to bolster the campaign against illegal recruitment of workers. He told the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and other agencies to work together to run after the illegal recruiters and protect Filipino workers.
In threatening to kill illegal recruiters, the President said he was aware that his sense of justice could be bordering on what is illegal and immoral.
“I maybe not really acceptable to everybody. I know that. But ‘yung sense of justice ko, kaya ganun ang nakita ninyo nangyari. ‘Yung sense of justice ko talaga mataas and sometimes it can cross the border of what is being moral or immoral or lawful and not lawful,” he said.
“Kaya ganito na lang ang galit ko diyan sa mga recruiters na ‘yan. Alam mo sabihin ko sa iyo, if there’s a chance patayin kita, papatayin talaga kita. P***** i** talaga. Galit na galit talaga ako diyan. I cannot imagine a Filipina and a small boy there na hanggang ngayon slave for life and they are doing these things for a few families there,” he added. (Genalyn Kabiling)
