PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said he could swallow being remembered by the people as “The Butcher” if that would be the outcome of his efforts to fight against illegal drugs.
“I might go down the history as ‘The Butcher.’ That’s up to you. I will not allow my country, not during my time, [to be destroyed because of illegal drugs]. You say, during the time of Duterte, many have been killed? And so be it,” Duterte said at the oath-taking of the newly-appointed government officials held at the Palace’s Rizal Hall.
“Shabu must end because we will suffer. For as long as there is shabu, the addiction will continue and it will bring down to the dogs,” he added.
He also maintained that it was alright for him not to be recognized as “statesman” because his main objective was to address the drug problem.
“I have my own political philosophy. I said, do not destroy my country because I will kill you. And do not tinker with our youths because we need them to run this country after us,” he said.
“I may not really be the ideal public official that you want me to be. They say, I’m not statesman. Son of a b****, there’s no such degree as statesman. Why would you force me to act that way? Statesman, you don’t do anything for your country. It’s okay that I’m not statesman as long as stupid drug lords are killed. You will really be killed. That’s certain.”
Since July 1 last year to date, about 2,208 drug suspects have been killed during the anti-illegal drug operations, according to the January 8 report released by the Philippine National Police. This does not include those drug personalities executed in vigilante fashion.
The same report also showed that a total of 1,020,904 drug personalities have surrendered to the authorities during the same period.
Duterte appealed to the drug dependents to stop the illegal operations in the country to achieve “heavenly peace.”
“Do you want the killings to stop immediately tomorrow? Just drop the shabu. Turn your back and walk away from the shabu industry and tomorrow, it will be heavenly peace,” he said. (Sunnex)