BY GENALYN KABILING
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President Duterte on Monday said he was extremely happy that he has “dismantled the oligarchy” in the country without having to declare martial law.
In his visit to Jolo Monday, the President declared he is prepared to die anytime after attaining his campaign promise of dismantling the oligarchs that supposedly abused the system and controlled the country’s political and economic fortunes.
Duterte made an unannounced visit to Jolo, Sulu last Monday to visit the troops following the fatal shooting of four soldiers by policemen.
His taped address was aired on state television on Tuesday morning after being cut and edited by the Palace.
“Without declaring martial law, sinira ko ‘yung mga tao na humahawak sa ekonomiya at umiipit at hindi nagbabayad. They take advantage sa kanilang political power (Without declaring martial law, I destroy the people holding the economy, crushing, and not paying (taxes). They take advantage of their political power),” he said before an assembly of troops in a camp in Jolo.
“Kaya ako mamatay, mahulog ‘yung eroplano, p***** i**, I am very happy. Alam mo bakit? Sabi ko without declaring martial law, I dismantled the oligarchy that controlled the economy of the Filipino people,” he said.
Duterte recalled that when he ran for the presidency in 2016, he pledged to combat corruption especially at the higher echelon of power. He said he thought the alleged corruption at the Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs was small compared to the “billions” stolen in the upper echelon.
Now on his fourth year in office, Duterte resented the elite few were milking the government and the people dry as well as controlling the fate of the country’s elections.
“It is not that I am inordinately proud of it but that was actually a part of my campaign,” he said, adding he did not expect to win the presidential elections.
“I dare challenge anybody na sabihin nila I am lying. Sinabi ko ‘yan in my own language. Medyo pagkabastos pero sabi ko itong mga mayaman na ginagatasan ang gobyerno pati ang tao,” he said.
Duterte also bewailed that only a few rich people were deciding on the fate of the country’s elections.
“Every election noon o sa ngayon o bukas sabihin nila sa isang kuwarto lang ‘yan, ‘O adre, sinong kandidato natin ngayon? O ikaw diyan, ikaw ang bahala sa ano ha, you raise the funds.’ Lima ata lang ang tao. Isang pamilya lang ang nag-uusap diyan. Ganun nilaro nila ang bayan ko (Every election in the past, present and future, they will gather in one room and say, ‘Who will be our candidate this time? Okay, you handle this, you handle that. You raise the funds.’ Maybe around five people. One family is involved in the discussion. That’s how they played around with my country),” he said.
The President’s latest tirade against oligarchs came a few days after the House committee on legislative franchises junked the franchise application of ABS-CBN network.
