Presidential Communications Office
Presidential News Desk
SPEECH OF
PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE
DURING HIS ATTENDANCE TO THE INAUGURATION OF THE MEGA DRUG ABUSE TREATMENT AND REHABILITATION CENTER (PHASE 1)
[Delivered at Fort Magsaysay, Palayan City, Nueva Ecija | 29 November 2016 ]
Kindly sit down. Maraming salamat po.
Secretary Paulyn Jean-Ubial of the Department of Health; Secretary Delfin Lorenzana of the Department of National Defense; Secretary Evasco, Office of the Cabinet Secretary; Director General Isidro Lapeña, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency; Mr. Huang Rulun, Mr. Huang, please accept my gratitude for the Filipino people; Governor Czarina Umali; Mayor Adrianne Cuevas; Lieutenant Ricardo Visaya; Lieutenant General Eduardo Año; the other members of the Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center; beloved workers in government; my beloved also countrymen.
When you are a friend, you do not treat him badly before the public. You do not humiliate an ally. And at all costs, you must save the friendship as an ally and friend so that you can help each other in the world of geopolitics.
Alam mo what hurt me so much was really — and because I know the gravity of the problem. I was mayor for 23 years in Davao City kaya alam ko kung gaano kalalim ang laro. But I was not really expecting it as terribly as it would come to me when I became president.
I was very strict in Davao. Totoo iyan and there are allegations of extrajudicial killing. But you know, we cannot dwell on our sins if there are any. We have to dwell on what to do to improve the situation especially if it is the country that is at stake.
Ang pagkaalam ko kasi seryoso, when I became mayor I said: To those of you who would want to destroy the young and deprive us of our generation, I will kill you, simply. And if you destroy my country, the same, I will kill you because both the Filipino people, the young ones, now, Grade 6, Grade 5, at ang aking bayan kung hayaan ko, magkakaproblema ako. Magkakaproblema ako sa bayan ko, it will go down crashing, it will become a failed state like what happened in Latin America. A lot of them.
By the way, Ioan Grillo who wrote the Gangster and about the drug wars in South America is a favorite, bestseller author of the book. He has come upon the invitation of somebody I do not know, but he will be here tomorrow. And I would be happy if he would be allowed to say things in public of what really — the things that he wrote about.
Anyway, ganito iyan, kung kaibigan mo, huwag mo akong pahiyain. Instead of helping me, just like this Good Samaritan na walang…I mean, he just came out of nowhere and went to my office and said that he would help me solve the drug problem by — because he heard that…‘Well, Duterte instead of killing the drug people, why don’t we just, you know, build something like this?’
You know, I became mayor midterm. I am operating on a budget that was prepared by my predecessor, which was prepared last year. The budget for next year as everybody knows here is being prepared now, it is in Congress and it will become operational next year. Ako pumasok ako midterm. Eh ang sabi nga nila bottoms up. So when I became president, all that was left for me to spend was the operating expenses only. MOOE lang ako, wala ng iba.
So, saan ako maghahanap ng pera? I cannot get the money from the Armed Forces and transfer it to Secretary Ubial and tell her, ‘you use that money.’ Because that would be robbing Peter to pay Paul. Hindi ko pa magamit kung saan specific. And so wala akong magawa to swallow lahat na.
But then let me warn you, drugs is a very virulent agent in any society. The campaign against drug will continue ‘till the last day of my term. I will not stop until the last drug pusher is out of the street and the last drug lord or king killed.
Iyan ang pangako ko sa inyo. I don’t care about media whether it’s international or…That is not my problem anymore. Elections are over and what I need to do is just to comply with my promise.
Remember that I promise the country that, if elected, I would to away with graft and corruption. And it will be done, I assure you. I give you my solemn promise. [applause] And drugs with the help, of course, of the good souls in this planet, we will overcome and make it…Basta sa panahon ko, tatapusin ko ito. Kung hindi ako ang matapos, okay lang.
You know, we live by our destiny in this planet. ‘Pag nakita ko sa Davao, noong naging presidente ako, same, I said…Now, this time, I address myself to the country. Iyong lumaban sa…
You know, the first six weeks ng assumption ko sa office, hindi amin iyon. Hindi sa gobyerno iyon. Hindi kami nagbabalot ng tao, ng plastik. We are not producing mummies in this country, sa Egypt lang iron.
Those who were tortures and if you are a government men, why would you waste your time wrapping a carcass there for nothing? If you want a drug lord, shoot him dead. Why do you have to waste your time? Actually, it was done remember I implicated some generals in the Armed Forces of the Philippines? I fired about six upon assumption. And I have many things to say maybe in a few days.
Iyong lumaban, those who chose to fight were killed. My orders were very specific: Go and find them, apprehend them, arrest them. If they choose to fight violently, and you find yourself in danger, as a soldier and as a military man, go ahead and kill him. That’s about it. That’s the law. I was all along using the law.
And why would these idiots now crucify me by saying: If you destroy my country, I will kill you. Find any other national of any country who would find something wrong in that statement. And as I said that if you destroy the youth of my land, I will kill you. There is no law at all, not even the United Nations.
Ang masakit diyan, they keep on threatening me. Most of them were outside. And always they would say, we will bring you to the International Court of Justice. How stupid can you get? The one saying it, the United States of America, is not even a signatory of the International Criminal Court. Then why are you using a term in the charter of an organization of which you are not a member? And what about killing? I said early on it was the purging and the cleansing, then came those who chose to fight.
But iyong mga tao na tumago at naghintay ng opportunity for a rehab or something good along the way, baka may makukuha sila, iyon ‘yung dadating dito. Those who choose to fight it out, made a stand, they are there in the memorials and cemeteries. I am sorry for them.
But I will not hesitate to do whatever it is necessary to save my country. [applause] Sabihin ko sa inyo, even if I will rot in prison, so be it.
Iyan na lang ang pinaka-contribute ko sa…Wala naman akong ibinigay sa bayan ko. I am not good credentials, I finished Kindergarten to — I never got beyond the 7, 75, 76, 77, 75…You know, but sometimes even with the minimum or the barest minimum of know-how, I can perhaps do something for my country.
But, no, no, pumasok kayo sa ibang bagay huwag dito. P**** i**, talagang papatayin ko kayo. Hayaan mo ‘yan sila. Bakit? Do your worst really, totoo lang. Maligaya ako dito sa nangyayari.
But before I end…Mainit kasi sila…I am worried about the beautiful ladies there. Mahirap pagka umitim sila, wala tayo…I want the ladies…I am not…I am just trying to say that Filipinas are really beautiful. I do not want to see you dark-skinned there, one of these days.
Magkano ang sabi ni Mr. Huang? 1.5 billion? Okay. This is what we have lost and what the drug lords have invested to destroy this country? At 200 per [acts like sniffing] Tondo, price? That’s about 6,000 a month. Correct? Times…Huwag ‘yung aking 1 million, iyong 3 million muna ni General Santiago ‘yung PDEA noon. Three million ang bilang niya eh. Kasi ako hindi pa ako tapos. At the end of the year, I might breach the million mark also.
So three million, so that is — times three million that’s — well, six, times three million, that would be 18 billion a year. Times 12, tama? Rather, times 12 that is 216 billion.
Magkano ito? 1.5. So how much…Kaya maraming property, mga hotel, barko, lahat na nandiyan sa kanila. And I said, they invested on the lives and sanity of the Filipino. Kung hindi ba naman kita mapatay diyan.
And do we have that 1.5 at our disposal? Maybe you have the money, maybe you don’t have it but then let us say next year, and if I can get hold of 1.5, maybe I will also build another one, this time somewhere in the Visayas. But I am sure kasi may tinurn over (turn over) ang PAGCOR, 5 billion kagabi, si Andrea. So PAGCOR so baka…
But you know, there’s trouble there in Mindanao. It is within control but it is a troublesome thing so I have to fly tomorrow to go to — there.
Iyong advance party ko na belonging to the Presidential Security Group na-ambush pa kanina. Tinamaan ng IED. But I’m going there. I’m going there because — I am just simply going there. The advice was to postpone, I said ‘no, I will go there’ and if possible, take the same route.
Maybe we can have a little gunfight here, gunfight there. Exercise. Baka. Kung hindi ako lulusot eh nandiyan naman, that’s why we have a Vice President Leni Robredo. Then you can have a gentle President also in exchange for a discourteous — a discourteous mouth. [laughter]
Hindi, ganito lang talaga ako pero what else can I do? I was trying to explain to everybody that I do not have the money, that I entered the presidency midterm, that I am having a hard time coping up kasi ang droga — ngayon, there’s a better atmosphere in our place.
In Davao City, nagpunta naman kayong lahat, apparently all of you have been there. It’s a peaceful place. So bakit? Because I stood my ground. I said, ‘you stay here, I’ll kill you. If you do go out of the city, I’ll kill you.’ Those who are out of my city are now here in Nueva Ecija doing their thing.
At least dito sa siyudad ko, you can go around anytime and to think that Davao City is in Mindanao. Except for the rebellion, which is a pestering problem, I really would say that were it not for this, maganda na sana tayo but we can never move.
Now, let me remind you again. Per my observation: we cannot have a peaceful country as — you know, if you do not agree to a federal setup. Ako, ayaw ko. Ayaw kong magpilit ng tao. Para sa akin, good. Kung ayaw mo, di ‘wag — I am just a Filipino. For as long as you do not bother me, fine.
Ang problema, ang Mindanao mismo and the Moro people will go for it at all costs. Remember that the Moro was ahead of us by almost a thousand years because they are the natives there when the Spaniards and the Americans were there to conquer the island. So if I may correctly describe it, actually, it’s the Moro nationalism that’s at work.
Iyong pagka-Moro nila na ninakaw ‘nung karamihan ng mga Kristiyanos ‘yung lupa nila, the choices the — really stay there. Lahat ng magaganda belongs to the Christians. Kaya may rason eh. But if you do not compromise here, wala tayong ma…That’s the barest minimum that we are asking.
If I were you, I’d listen to the speaker here. Ponder on it, sleep on it, and maybe decide one day that they too must have a better deal in the government.
‘Pag hindi, paningin ko wala talaga. And I have — wala na tayong away ngayon. We do not have to fight the NPAs. They are probably here, nandito ‘yan nakikinig. Baka siguro nandiyan sa likod. ‘Yung naka-blue diyan, may kilala kayo lahat diyan o–? [laughter] May isa talaga, dalawa, NPA diyan. Ay sus. Wala naman tayong away. So, you know, I can pour all the troops there.
When I was in — four days ago I was in Jolo. Ito ba naman ang tanong sa akin ng media: ‘This is the sixth time that you have visited the place. You are pinning, donning medals. Hanggang dito ka na lang ba?’
You know, there is really no problem. I can order the invasion of Jolo and give the order, ‘the last man standing.’ I can burn Jolo, I can burn Basilan. Bomb everything there, lahat ng bahay makita ko. With the howitzers and the…But what would it bring us? If you think that I will wipe out humanity there, we will at last enjoy the blessings of peace?
What you will get in return with the terrorism and mind you, that Maute there who is fighting the government troops now and there is a raging battle going on. And I said ‘yung advance party ng security ko, pinutok ng IED. Kaya I have to go to the hospitals to visit them tomorrow. That’s why I have to go home tonight. I have to fly back. ‘Yung ang ano…
Kasama rin ang — the Reds. Mabuti’t na lang ‘yan nakapaghinga na tayo eh, nag uusap na tayo. At least there’s a respite. For the nonce, we can rest.
There’s no doubt about it, I can fight the whole year round. May pera ang gobyerno, may taxes eh. But for how long? And at what cost?
So kayong nakakaintindi sa akin, you are too near the left, you are too near with Misuari. But, of course. I never like it but when I became vice mayor of Davao City, he went around Mindanao strutting with firearms. I said, ‘no, you cannot enter my city with arms.’ It’s something not…So, nagkaintindihan kami and we became friends, we are talking. May mga misgivings siya.
But if we cannot find peace now, then I’ll give it to the next President. Do better but do not concede more than what you can really give.
For example, ‘yung gusto nila na ano, they want a… Again, they repeated it before me, itong they would want a — parang regional armed forces, pati pulis. That’s something which I cannot give. Those are the things that cannot be negotiated.
They want a federal type presidency, fine. But the Commander-in-Chief and the control of the police and the military shall always be in the hands of the president.
But those are the nitty-gritty things in life. In the meantime, we savor the moment that Mr. Huang has travelled away, all the way from his homeland to share his money and I would like to thank everybody dito.
You know, the PDEA chief, the one who succeeded this — former — Sid — General Sid Lapeña. He used to be my city police director and everybody else mga kasama ko doon sa ‘yung mga nakilala ko.
And I said there will be no compromise. The only compromise dito — I’ll go now but the only compromise that is acceptable to me is you surrender.
If you continue… I said, you might end losing not only your funds but your life. Because I told the police, the law enforcers and the men, do not hesitate to kill especially if you think that your life is in danger.
So para maintindihan ng lahat, ganun, maraming patay. So be it. The most sensible way to deal with the patay is ilibing mo para hindi mangamoy. So period. It’s a brutal way of saying things, but that’s the only thing I think these idiots understand.
I will not allow my country to sink like Colombia even if — until the last pusher, until the last drug lord is exterminated, that will be the rule of the day.
Maraming salamat po. [applause]
—END—