Presidential Communications Office
Presidential News Desk
SPEECH OF
PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
DURING THE MASS OATH TAKING OF NEWLY-APPOINTED OFFICIALS AND LEAGUE OF MUNICIPALITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES
[Delivered at Rizal Hall, Malacañan | 11 October 2016]
The newly-elected leaders of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines, the newly-appointed officials, my fellow workers in government, my beloved countrymen.
I don’t know if it’s really the part of the program, but I would just like to say something about my government now, the Executive.
Alam ho ninyo, this is not to indulge in politics again, but just as a predicate, you know very well that I ran, it was not really a moribund political party but it was been quiet in Mindanao only, with the Pimentel father and son providing the light all these years. I ran under the PDP and we had so many constraints, especially sa pera.
But I won on three major issues and I’d like you to take it, well, place it in your heart because it is really the meat of the matter. I did not have enough money to really expect even na manalo ako. But, it was I think in the messaging that I was able to connect with the people of the Philippines and that is, that I will do away with corruption and I am very, very, very adamant about it sana.
Hindi naman ito para sa inyo. I mean, you’re all educated and— Itong sa iba itong lalo na sa regulatory agencies and boards of the government. There’s a lot of corruption still and I have yet to refocus on the so many issues.
Balak ko sana, this is not really to… I don’t know if it is correct or not but for those of you who are here lawyers, you can maybe give me an input of how to do about it. ‘Di ko talaga kaya na isa-isahin. But I was tinkering with the idea coming in last night from Basilan and Zamboanga, na i-open ko ‘yung PTV 4 for one hour each day and diretso na lang sila. Lalabas na lang ‘yung pangalan minus if you want, kayo nagpapadala, the complainants or the aggrieved parties or whatever, the wronged,you can always skip your number but if you want to do it publicly, fine with me.
Just text the agency and the person whom you have, you have a gripe, a grievance to express, tell me about the issue and maybe that would be more in keeping with the transparency. It does not mean to say na tama ‘yan because people can go wrong and it will go wrong, as in the Murphy’s law.
But I would, I’m… my predilection now is really to go fast simply because six years is a very limited time to do some reform.
If I could just get a fraction of the corruption sa ating gobyerno, mukhang okay na. I cannot erase all. I cannot stop it. But I can minimize it.
Ngayon ho, I said, I don’t know if it’s with keeping with the right also to be, of the people to be informed, and the right to air a grievance vis-à-vis with the right of the person to keep his privacy. But I am trying to, trying to looking for a, how to strike a happy balance here.
Kasi hanggang ngayon ho, meron pa rin eh. And parang I feel it as an insult really. Kasi ‘yan ang pinangako ko. One is I will stop corruption. That was the only line that was repeated by my mouth all the months of the campaign.
Second is, itong… It leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Drugs. Alam mo, there’s a revolving two school of thoughts here na we treat them, we arrest them, we prosecute them. Pero ho kayong mga abugado and I’ve been a prosecutor for so many years. Just the thought of building a case for one, one criminal, one drug pusher, just to build a case for one would take you about three, four days and a lot of investigation, three or four men to assign.
Kaya tayong mga abugado, you know that is well nigh impossible to do it. What I’m trying to say is that I do not think I can be successful unless I destroy the apparatus of the criminal syndicates.
Sad to say, really the big ones, nandoon sa labas. And they are operating, I would like to show you the matrix kung maari lang. Kung meron lang tayong national security clearances niyan, eh ipapakita ko na diyan sa inyo kung papaano. And it’s being operated by electronics now.
Tama na ‘yung sinabi ni Jaybee Sebastian. Ang umabot lang diyan sa loob ng Penitentiary, konsumo lang nila ‘yan ngayon. But in the past, they were actually into it, cooking inside and selling diyan sa market nila was Manila, the Metro Manila hanggang Cavite. But that was stopped because medyo nagkahirapan. Ang pumapasok lang diyan ‘yung konsumo nila.
For the life of me, alam ba ninyo na ang droga sa Pilipinas, ang laro nasa loob ng National Penitentiary. Magtanong kayo ng dumaan diyan na superintendent or warden. It is being operated all throughout the Philippines using just the cellphone. Be it in Parañaque, in Davao Penal Colony. Lahat, pati doon sa kubols. Doon sa mga penal colonies naglalaro ang mga kriminal. So hirap ako dito.
And to think that during the time of General Santiago, he was a very honest officer and gentleman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. When he was in PDEA, he gave us a figure of three million at least ang may tama.
And ‘nong pumunta ako sa Laos, I had a talk with President Widodo. I had the occasion to ask him about drugs and he said, it’s still a problem for him. And I said, ilan, how many of your countrymen are contaminated? He gave the four million.
‘Yung binigay na figure ni Santiago na three million, hindi kasali ‘yung akin. Those who were discovered, arrested, killed during my time, na ‘yung nag-surrender, they’re stretched from a number now and they’re still coming in in droves.
So by the end of the year, it would be reasonable to expect that it breaks the four million mark also. Now, comparing Indonesia with the Philippines, with Indonesia having a 240 million inhabitants and it’s a big Republic, two, three major islands there na malalaki that compromises the Republic of Indonesia. Sa karami niya, four million siya.
Ako, ang liit-liit ko, I only have about 104 million Filipinos. May tama ako na four million. Saan ko ito–? How do I–?
‘Yung sa Davao ako, and I’d be honest with you, I was really a hardliner.
May mga pangyayari na hindi ninyo nagustuhan maybe extrajudicial killing. There were, but that was not really my order.
Ang sa Davao lang kasi when I became mayor, I fully supported the police. Walang takot ang pulis. Ang pulis kasi hindi niya malaman ‘pag na-demanda siya. He can be heard before the Ombudsman. He can be heard before the IAS. Tapos nandiyan pa ‘yung Human Rights. Ang pulis kasi noon ‘pag na-demanda hindi niya malaman kung saan siya pupunta. Nandiyan pa ‘yung Napolcom.
He would go crazy. But sa Davao kasi noong na-mayor ako, having been a politician and a prosecutor, sabi ko sa kanila: Just do your duty, do it right. Because when I…Noong 1970 noong pumasa ako sa bar. ’73, lumabas yung amin. Class ’72, bar ’72 ako.
Noong lumabas kasi ‘yan nag-asawa ako kulang ang pera ko. So nagturo ako sa police academy sa Southern Philippines. So estudyante nila kuwan… All those years hindi mo na kailangan sabihan na ano, sinabi ko lang: Go out, arrest them.
Minsan ‘yung ano buy-bust operation karamihan diyan. Place them under arrest in the custody of the law, announce your authority and if they do not surrender, then you have to take him by force. But if he presents a violent resistance, and if you think that you’re life is in danger, patayin mo. And that has been my order ever since and to me I think there is nothing wrong with that.
And when I was a mayor ganito ang estilo ko, lumabas kayo ng Davao kayong mga durugista. Lumabas kayo ‘yung naglalaro ng droga, gun-for-hire, soldiers and everything policemen go out. Pulis ka pagka nandiyan ka, alam mo na sabi ko.
And all of these guys inside of government or outside of government, maraming namatay noon because I was really very strict. So, and I would say just like what I have been saying in public: Do not destroy my country because I will kill you. And do not destroy the youth of the land because I will kill you.
And I have been doing it several — for several years. As a matter of fact, for 23 years for the time that I was mayor, I used to spew that kind of sentence, that statement. And I could hardly find a law, ‘yung sinasagawa ng mga EU na I threatened people with — because you cut corners in my statement.
I said those who would want to destroy my country. That’s, I, I — I think it’s a very correct statement. I cannot see anything wrong there when you threatened criminals because you do not want your country destroyed by drugs.
Hahanapan ako ng mali. But you know, the EU and itong human rights, alam nila ‘yung statement ‘yan. You know if it is not a crime in my country, how can you be…How can you prosecute me before any other body? It has to start with the criminal laws of the land of which I am amenable because I am a Filipino citizen. But unfortunately for them wala.
And they reprimand me and chastise me including Secretary of State, ‘yung babae doon pati Obama. And you know before you, you must do some digging. Before I left for Laos I said: Huwag ninyo akong hiyain doon. Huwag ninyo. And I was referring to the press and everybody who would ask me publicly.
So huwag ninyo akong bastusin doon because this is a gathering of…You know when I was vice mayor, it was all right for you to parang sidekick—those are side issues of governance.
But when I am President of the Republic of the Philippines, little as I am kung wala silang respeto sa akin, they must remember that I carry the identity of a sovereign country. You do not have any right to chastise me publicly.
There is the United Nations and if you say something wrong in our sovereign exercise of our authority, you go there and make your statement and ask for a motion it be referred to the Human Rights Commission.
But do not just stand there like Obama and the rest at parang sabihin, “o huwag kang mag-ano diyan ng human rights.” And to threaten, ang nagalit ako doon sa statement ng isang I don’t know but gusto kong magmura eh.
Sabi niya: “You know, Mr. Duterte, you better watch out your mouth. You might stand to lose the aids that you are…” So kung ganoon lang naman, takutin ka na parang kunin ‘yung pagkain sa harap mo kaya ako nagalit.
I do not…. I do not demand respect. But I just want them to do which is correct, the proper decorum of a sovereign. Nakalimutan nila ‘yan eh. Kaya kasi ang pagtingin kasi ng America and the others, maliit lang kasi tayo. Historically they never, lalo na ‘yang…. It’s not only the fault of the President, iyang State Department, na ‘yan. Ano talaga yan… They are there to stay, and they — they do what they want because they think that they are the most powerful nation on Earth.
Ife-feed lang nila iyan sa President, iyong Presidente naman…Sabi ko kay Obama: “I never made the statement.” Iyong mga hurtful words. Now, itong si Goldberg, for the second time, totoo eh. What’s wrong if you are gay? Well, totoo naman ang sinabi ko and had started the ruckus. Siya because he rode onto a statement of mine that was a narration of a true event.
Now, somebody from the other side during the campaign was looking for the tapes sa RPN because he was the cameraman riding piggyback sa akin. He was all along sa likod ko. Totoo iyong sinabi ko. Itong mga ito, baka swerte ito. Naunahan pa…Tama iyon. Sinabi ko tala[ga] sag alit ko. It was not a — intended to be a religious…It was intended to derogate sa manhood noong nag-raid. Insulto ba. Philippine called…
Mabuti pa itong g*** ‘tong, kapangit-pangit ‘yun ang sinagot. Parang ganon. Hindi man nila ma-ano. Sinabi lang. And you know dito sa atin, when they judge, they judge… you judge best when you condemn.
Ang alam mo dito sa atin, for those who cannot really pronounce it. S** of a g**. Ang iba naman s** of a b****. That is a p**** i***, but they chose the phrase s** of a w****** to make it terrible to the ear.
‘Yan ang… So itong Amerika– May nagalit isang artista sa akin na ano daw ako, ‘psychopath.’ I leave her to her Constitutional right to free expression. She should enjoy that.
Itong Amerika, I’m serving notice sa inyo na hindi ko kaya ‘yang style na basta na lang pautos-utos sila na they want to, they want to do something before the public. Tayo hindi tayo pwedeng mag-ano. I mean, I cannot question the killings of the black people in America. I cannot question Obama before the national– explain to us why are you shooting black people already on the ground in the act of surrender. Tell us why is there now a great divide between the black and the… inyo ‘yan eh but nobody can question that. Nobody has ever heard the– demanding the investigation by the Human Rights, of the United Nations, of America.
Kagaya nitong isang, ‘yung EU, they have the gall to, and they said they were lawyers. [inaudible] investigated that is it a crime to say, ‘free criminals, go to my country, I’ll kill you.’
That is the right. To preserve your rights. Alam mo bakit? Give me about three minutes.
Ang droga, umabot na ng four million. Alam ninyo na dumating ako dito sa Presidency midterm, when the budget–on a budget prepared by Aquino, President, who prepared it the previous year. So itong budget ko, does not contain any eventuality or the expectation of millions of people needing treatment or rehabilitation because it was not until after I became President na lumabas ang totoo.
When I was mayor, I knew that it was serious. Sabi mo na may namamatay, meron, tama ‘yan. Pero alam mo, hindi ko talaga ‘yan alam na ganun pala kalawak ang tama ng ating bayan. So wala akong rehab. Kunin ko ‘yung sa Defense Department or ito kay Secretary Ubial, ibigay ko doon sa Defense, sabi ko, because I ordered the military to open up their camps to accommodate the rehab houses.
Hind man natin alam ‘yan so wala akong budget na singko sentimos, wala, because everything is programmed to be spent the way it should be there.
Sabi ko– tapos sabihin, ba’t hindi niya patayin, bakit niya patayin, i-rehab niya, eh puno na nga eh.
At saka hindi ‘yan, because until they are contained in a structure which is really secured.
Now, let me just hurry up my talk with you. China offered to help, patapos na, walang ni-ho ni-hay. It’s in Fort Magsaysay, nandun sa loob. It’s good for 1,600 inmates. It’s about to be completed. Mag ina–mag cut ng ribbon, sabi ko wag nang cut-cut ng ribbon, cut mo na lang ang leeg ng p******– ay sorry.
‘Wag na tayong magseremonyas, sabihin mo buksan na kaagad ninyo and ganun na, parang mga apartments lang, mga condo nga, harap-harap and ganun ang pinakita ng China.
Ngayon, sabihin niyo, bakit ako magpunta ng China? Okay. Gusto niyo, ayaw natin ang China, o sige. May Arbitral ruling tayo. We won. We are entitled to the entitlements of that part of the Red China Sea na atin. Entitlements. It is not territory. The territory is 12 miles. Beyond that is ‘yung ating tawag natin, parang fishpond. Lahat naman tayo binigyan ng fishpond o. ‘Yan inyo. Inyo Philippines, you have a, count it up to the outermost line then do a line there and that’s yours. Lahat tayo may ganun. But China has claimed it to be part of their historic sovereign territory.
Okay, tayo ang nag-file, panalo tayo. Okay, magbotohan tayo. Sino ang gusto na.. dalawa lang., I will insist, ‘pag ayaw nilang ibigay, atakihin ko sila, I’ll start the war. Pag hindi, o, I talk. O sino sa inyong magsabing birahan natin bukas? Padala ko ang Navy doon bukas. I’ll send the grayships there. It will be a massacre and to top it all, the battleground would be Palawan. Anak ng. Buti sana kung sa Massachusetts tayo o sa New York, sige, payag tayo. Eh ‘wag ‘yung bayan ko.
Eh itong kamay ko nangati na, gusto nang mag kalabit ng trigger o. I don’t know what happened baka na karma ako, siguro ‘yung…
Anyway ‘yan ang ano diyan. So China has repeatedly invited me, I have accepted the offer. There was a little bit of ano, kasi I was supposed to, punta ng Japan ahwad but Japan gave a definite date. I forgot all about kasi nagbigay sila ng definite date eh, so wala akong magawa, sabi ng itong– eh bakante pala eh, dito ka muna sa amin. Just for ano, pupunta ako ng Brunei tapos didiretso ako ng China then part of that is Japan.
Contrary to the belief of other Filipinos, it is not the United Nations. Maliit lang ‘yan pati ‘yang military. It’s the Japanese government ang pinakamalaking tulong. And so I’ll go to Japan, then probably I will go to Russia. In that meeting namin sa Laos, nobody knew it but I said, na-divulge ko naman sa inyo. We talked. Kami lang dalawa ni Medvedev, sabi nya, you go to Russia and we’ll talk about it. You will– we have everything that you need here. Pati pera siguro. Well anyway, ‘yun ang sitwasyon.
I do not think that I will—saka ‘yung– tingnan mo talaga itong– they keep on. Ayan si Roy Cimatu sa harap ninyo and the other Generals here. Andyan apat ang sumaludo sa akin kanina, there are generals, tanungin ninyo.
War games, pagdating nila dito diskarga, and distribute the equipments. And they have equipments na gagamitin so habang nag-war games–. Kasi ‘yung equipments nila pati ‘yung equipments natin, they are not compatible. Pagtawag mong ganun, magbombahan, ang magsagot sa’yo North Korea, ‘okay, okay, I have, padala namin ‘yan, so hindi compatible.
Pag-alis ng Amerikano, dala nila, so what’s the point? Sila ‘yung nakinabang, sila ‘yung natututo, tayo wala. ‘Yan ang, that’s the, that’s the reality on the ground and you can ask every military officer thereabout. Ano bang, anong makuha ko sa kanila? Saka noon pa ‘yan nila. Alam mo ilang beses ako napabalik for the time that I was out of the country.
I never, nung mayor ako hindi nakalabas. First time ako nakapasyal Congressman na lang ako, that was in the 1999, 2000. And minsan I could see how the, ‘yung sigaw-sigawan nila ‘yung Pilipino na… Meron pa akong kilala, nagkasabay kami sa Davao, ‘yun bata dinala doon sa isang cubicle, yung ama naman, yung bata, eh bata eh.
Sigaw ng sigaw, parang wala naman sa kanila. Ganun sila ka… kaya noon pa sabi ko, well, if there’s a chance but– I do not mean to cancel or abrogate the military alliances. But tanungin ko kayo, do you still… do you, do you really think we need it? If there is a war, magkaupakan, do you think we really need America? And do we need China and Russia for that matter? Or do we need somebody? Although we need somebody, pag nagbirahan ‘yan lahat at nabitawan ‘yang ICBMs pati ‘yung mga Poseidon, lahat na, there will be no more American aid to talk of.
There will no more be a country strong enough to rule. Hindi e. Pag magdating ‘yan wala tayong kailangan kung hindi yung pari.
Kung gusto mo lang, mag ultimo adios. Do you really think that– kung magka third… is there such as thing as a third world war? Kalokohan. Alam mo bantay sila nito ni, itong arrogance ng– ng America. Si Xi Jinping pati si, lalo na si Putin. Wag kayong talagang, wag tayo magkamali dyan.
Talagang kita mo, pag ginusto niya, kunin talaga niya. She– he wanted Crimea, he just simply went there to occupy it. Ang America, wala man lang nagawa. So, let us go for alliances that would contribute to the health, to the education kung aabot pa tayo ng…If there is a world out there waiting for our children. Otherwise, we have to protect them.
Itong– the sheer number of four million is kalat yan. And lastly, ayaw ninyong maniwala o hindi? Kung kasing i-publish ko. There are about 3,600 elected barangay captains. Na-elect na– 3,000 all over the country.
There are about 6,000 policemen there in that list. Ayaw ko na lang i-publish kasi magkagulo ang Pilipinas. Now, naghahanap ako. I’m trying to figure out, the meeting with the military and the civilian, pati ‘yung mga scholars natin how to go about solving the problem because narco-politics has seeped in our political system.
The portals of the invasion of drugs into the national government started with De Lima. Totoo ‘yan. Ilang witness na ang nagsasabi sa inyo. ‘Yung gwardya na, ‘yung NBI, ‘yung PSG. Meron na tayong narco-politics that is why I told Congress, do not call for an election now. Otherwise, manalo ang mga may pera. Na kung nandyan sila sa gobyerno, they will just wait it out. Maybe magdasal na ‘yan sila na mahulog ‘yung eroplano ko or they want maybe to impeach me or whatever. Balik sila. Pera eh. The greed, the craving for money.
Now, if you—ayan, pag ambisyosa ka na. Look at the way, previous, previously. I’m not– I’m not insulting here. Just as a matter of law and proof. Look at the—review the tapes, look at the sartorial elegance of how she graduated. Tingnan mo mga—look at the previous tapes. Malaman mo ‘yan ang tao hindi talaga makapigil eh. Mag-regalo ng bahay. P***** i**, sipsip. ‘Yan ang mahirap.
It has never been answered kung kaninong bahay, sinong gumastos. Eh obviously, alam nating lahat. But that is how narco-politics has set in.
Ngayon, next election, be prepared. Ako, wala na ako. Salamat rin. Ako– if these guys can hammer out or craft a– itong hinihingi ng ating mga kababayan natin na Muslim—Federal.
If you can finish it in three years or two years, I will go, I will resign kasi it will provide the position of the President, which must be elected.
The moment it is ratified by the Filipino people, you have my assurance, you have my word of honor, I do not want to stay any longer kung hindi ako kailangan. I will resign and give way. ’Yan ang garantiya ko sa inyo. But for the time being, hindi ko malaman kung itong droga because pag hinayaan ko, it will destroy the next generation by the sheer contamination and widespread. Talagang mahirapan ‘yan.
It’s like a case of Hong Kong noon when there was this English company given the sole right to sell opium. It took the Chinese four generations to entirely wipe out, including my grandfather. Nago-opium ‘yun. Noon kasi nahuli eh, maliit pa ako pero malakas na mag mahjong, malakas pang magyot-yot ng opium ang buwang.
It took them several generations pa. If I, mag let go ako ngayon, it might be bloody, it might be cruel, it might be brutal. That is for my country. I’m not doing it for somebody else.
Kaya kung ayaw ninyo mag-tulong ‘di makinig kayo. Basta there is a rule which– saka ‘yan balot-balot na binabalot ng–hindi ‘yan gawain ng pulis, hindi gawain ng military.
Bakit tayo mag-balot ng plaster na tao diyan na– we are not into manufacturing of mummies. Ganyan sila, remember that there were several… Remember that there are now policemen at lalo na itong mga ‘ninja’ ang tawag nila. This is—if there was a time for cleansing and it’s still going on.
Because nobody, pinatong ko na nga two million per head of the nine known drug manufacturers. Sabi kasi ng mga bakit pa natin ibigay natin sa kanila, ‘di tayo na lang.
Look, you should visit it’s– I would– I don’t know if would be in bad taste of– the momument of– tignan ninyo sa Arayat napaka-laki. Ganito kalaki o. ‘Yung ikot ng mga makina doon—tubig, tangke, tapos dito ‘yung heater, tapos ‘yung tube, finally ‘yung shabu.
Eh kung hindi natin makaya ito, let us just operate it, mag-shabu na lang tayo lahat, wala naman tayong magawa, let us join the crowd. P******, but sabi ko, I mean I repeat it on this major issue sa Presidency ko.
I stake my honor, my life, and my country, my presidency. Presidency ko, honor. Impeachment, fine. I’ll go, wala akong problema.
Coup d’etat, I will go. Sabi ko kila Roy, huwag ng mag coup d’etat. Come here, line there. Okay, raise your rights hands.
“I, General, would like to be President.” Okay. Sige inyo na. Solve the problem, if not balikan ko kayo. Ganun. Eh kung meron may gusto eh di, o sige. But I will not. I will never, never, never, never iwanan ang– buhay ko, my honor and the Presidency. I can let go.
–END–