MANILA – President Rodrigo R. Duterte on Wednesday stated that drug smugglers and communist rebels must “drop” their drugs and guns if they want peace.
Duterte said during a speech in Cordova, Cebu that surrender is the only acceptable compromise with both drug smugglers and members of the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
“Kayong mga NPA, kayong mga drugista, you want peace? Magtrabaho ka lang then drop the gun. Kayong mga drugista, drop the drugs. Itapon mo ‘yan at wala ka talagang problema sa akin (You NPA, drug coddlers, you want peace? Just work then drop the gun. You drug lords, drop the drugs. Throw them away and you won’t have a problem with me),” he said.
If they continue to resist arrest and fight back, he said, law enforcement authorities would have no choice but to shoot and kill them.
“Destroy my country and our children, I will kill you. That is my mantra and that will still be my mantra in a few days when I go out of Malacañang,” he added.
Duterte admitted anew that he was wrong with his self-imposed three to six months deadline on ending the country’s drug problem.
He claimed that it was only after he designated now-Senator Ronald de la Rosa as police chief that he realized that certain police officers and officials were involved in drug trafficking.
However, he clarified that he did not order law enforcement officers to kill suspects who had their hands up or were on their knees.
“Wala akong inutusan na patayin mo naka hands up, nakaupo in surrender (I never ordered them to kill those with their hands up, those kneeling in surrender). That’s not the work of the police,” he added.
As long as drug smugglers would “behave” and “follow rules”, he said, there would not be any problem.
Duterte, meanwhile, reiterated his call to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to conduct a probe on the killings of police officers involved in the anti-drug operations.
“Pag-aralan ninyo mabuti. Tanungin mo sino yung namatay at bakit patay ‘yan (Study it well. Ask who died and why they died),” he said.
Currently, the government is implementing a community-based drug rehabilitation program at the local level for drug surrenderers in need of treatment and rehabilitation.
For NPA insurgents who surrender to authorities, the Enhanced Comprehensive Local Integration Program (E-CLIP) is being implemented.
Duterte has previously expressed hope that the next administration would continue the government’s crackdown on drugs, crime, and terrorism.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines.
The Anti-Terrorism Council also formally designated the NDF as a terrorist organization on June 23, 2021, citing it as “an integral and separate part” of the CPP-NPA that was created in April 1973.
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