PRESIDENT-ELECT Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday night he would apologize to the families of drug users who cannot kick the habit because they are “as good as dead” once he takes office on June 30.
Speaking before his supporters who braved the heavy rains at the One Love, One Nation Cebu thanksgiving party, the president-elect expressed his plan to kill at least 10 drug addicts a day to lower the number of drug users in the country.
“This will be finished. Six years. You just think if I will kill 10 per day,” Duterte told crowd.
“If I couldn’t convince you to stop, I’ll have you killed… If you’re into drugs, I’m very sorry. I’ll have to apologize to your family—your father, mother, spouse and children—because you’ll surely get killed. Believe me. If I won’t kill you, many will be like you,” the president-elect said.
Duterte’s vow to kill 10 drug offenders a day would mean a total death count of 21,900 by the time he steps down from office in 2022.
On Saturday, incoming Philippine National Police director-general Chief Supt. Ronald dela Rosa revealed that some of the 35 mayors who are being investigated for their alleged involvement in the narcotics trade come from Davao province.
Duterte cited statistics from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to emphasize the severity of the problem.
“According to PDEA, [there are] three million-plus drug addicts in the country today… Let’s just assume that [they are] in every barangay… You have a problem because they can be also thieves, rapists or just dysfunctional,” he said.
“The problem is once you’re addicted to shabu, rehabilitation is no longer a viable option,” he added.
Duterte said that while many critics have slammed the recent killing of suspected drug lords as “embarrassing,” he said the crimes committed by drug pushers and addicts are the “bigger embarrassment.”
Earlier this month, Duterte said there are politicians as well as three police generals who are into illegal drugs. He warned them to resign before he becomes president or he will humiliate them publicly.
An end to the drug problem, he said, was the only way the country could attract investors.
“Our only chance is investments so that many businesses would enter. But I have to make this country
peaceful. Because of drugs, there is rape, criminality, robbery—I have to control the source,” he added.
Taking a different tack, Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista offered basic skills and technical education and even seed capital for drug users and pushers who surrender and give up the illicit drug trade.
On Friday, Bautista gave drug users in Quezon City seven days to surrender to the authorities but warned those who ignored his plea.
Quezon City police have rounded up 738 drug users and peddlers since they launched a new anti-drug campaign. With Rio N. Araja