President Rodrigo Duterte meets members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) at Matina Enclaves in Davao City on June 4, 2020. JOEY DALUMPINES/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
President Rodrigo Duterte praised police anti-drug operatives for working amid the Covid-19 pandemic, after being told that P5.1-billion worth of shabu was seized in Marilao, Bulacan on Thursday.
“So despite of the pandemic, police are working. So kita mo ang mga pulis ko nagtatrabaho … mindful of the fact that they can get the Covid by their dedication,” Duterte said in a broadcast over state television.
Duterte also gave Police Gen. Archie Gamboa a “snappy salute” for the multibillion-peso drug bust.
The president threatened to kill anew those who “destroy the country” by trafficking in drugs.
“Sabi ko nga if you destroy my country distributing 5.1 billion of shabu all throughout the country, I will kill you,” he said.
Duterte said the country has become a transshipment point of illegal drugs, including those shipped by the Sinaloa drug cartel of Mexico.
“Malaki ‘to. T*** i** ninyo hindi matapos itong… Sabi ko ganito 5.1 billion, it will destroy my country because the 5.1 billion of shabu will be consumed by millions of people” he said.
He also called on human rights groups to pay attention as well to policemen who “died along the way in our journey to fight drugs.”
“What I’m saying is aside from the NPA (communist rebels), isang problema talaga natin ang droga and of course ang Abu Sayyaf, the terrorist here in Mindanao. Marami ‘yan mga Maute, mga splinter group, all engaged in illegal activities. So ‘yon.”
Duterte made no mention of the passage of the controversial anti-terrorism bill during his address, which was taped Thursday night. John Ezekiel J. Hirro