Image from Don Leandrew Tiu’s Facebook post - President Rodrigo Duterte said he doesn’t care about the rising death toll in his campaign against drugs
- He reiterated most of those who were killed are drug users who are also drug pushers
- He also renewed his warning against illegal drug peddlers that he will kill them if they won’t stop
MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte said he doesn’t care about the rising number of dead bodies as a result of his widespread anti-illegal drug campaign even as human rights groups have already urged the United Nations to step in.
In his speech at the State of Mindanao Environmental Summit held at the Ateneo de Davao University on Thursday, August 4, Duterte insisted that the slain drug users could also be drug pushers and may have been killed because they resisted arrest or engaged police in firefights.
”I do not care. I really don’t care because I know na kapag iyan bangag na [that once they are high on drug] – a user is always a pusher except you are the son of an Ayala or Gokongwei,” Duterte told the audience.
Several human rights group have called on the UN to condemn the spate of killings just more than a month into the Duterte administration.
During the campaign period, the tough-talking former Davao City Mayor vowed to rid the country of criminality and illegal drugs within 3 to 6 months after he assumed office.
Duterte’s promise of change resonated well among the public who have been clamoring for a crime-free country for several decades; the same promise that eventually catapulted him to Malacañang.
Right after the election, extrajudicial killings have started and the statistics went up after Duterte took over the presidency last June 30.
As of August 1, more than 400 deaths – 465 to be exact, according to Inquirer’s ‘Kill List’ – linked to illegal drugs have been recorded; with many of the victims said to be suspected drug pushers who were killed in legitimate police operations.
However, around 180 of these victims were killed by unidentified suspects or vigilante groups.
But Duterte maintained most of those killed in police operations are the ones who put up a fight and refused to surrender to the authorities.
“Lumalaban talaga iyan. Kaya lang siyempre ang police kalaban niya bangag. Eh kung may bangag ka, you cannot even shoot straight,” said the president.
[They really put a fight. But, of course, the police are fighting those who are under the influence of drug. If you are high on drugs, you cannot even shoot straight.]
In the same speech, Duterte once again warned drug pushers that he will kill them if they don’t stop.
“I will really kill you. Do not do it. Do not destroy my country because I will kill you,” he declared.
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