Friday, January 25, 2008 Editorial: A grim warning
"I WILL operate anywhere, even outside Davao City, to protect the interest of the people. I don't give ___ about jurisdiction. I will come and get you as sure as the sun rises in the east!"
Such scathing words can only come from a man whose anger has been aroused by something. Like the illegal drugs trade, for instance. And if illegal drugs traders pose a threat to Dabawenyos, that man can only be none other than Rodrigo R. Duterte, mayor-on-leave of Davao City. The cussword is a dead (pardon the pun) giveaway.
Duterte showed his ire during an interview with Sun*Star Davao before he left for Manila Wednesday, following reports that illegal drugs continue to trickle into the city, presumably from a clandestine shabu laboratory located just outside the Davao region. The exact location, however, has yet to be determined.
Once the laboratory has been pinpointed, Duterte said he was not ruling out conducting a pre-emptive strike against it, even if it is outside Davao City's borders.
The mayor is warning dealers in illegal drugs that neither his being on leave nor the fact that he is no longer head of the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) means he has turned his back on his relentless anti-drug campaign.
It may be recalled that a few years back Duterte led a raid on a shabu laboratory in Davao City during which several people operating it were killed in an alleged shootout with government agents from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and national police.
Saying that he is continually monitoring the drug trade situation, Duterte warned those who involved they remain potential targets of assassination in Davao City "as sure as the sun rises in the east."
That grim warning is for real. Dabawenyos still recall how many an illegal drug pusher had in the recent past realized too late that such a heinous crime does not pay. It seems that drug-pushing hereabouts can also mean sudden death.
