MANILA (Agencies): In his penultimate, nearly three-hour-long State of the Nation Address on July 26, Philippine president, Rodrigo Duterte, touted his five-year war on drugs, which has allegedly killed thousands of people, UCAN reported. Duterte steps down as president next year when his single, six-year term of office ends.
Prior to the president’s speech, Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, the director of Caritas Philippines, said it was time for Duterte to prove once and for all that he is the “father of the nation” CBCPNews reported.
“It won’t make any difference now to the lives of the Filipino people even if he gives marching orders to pass his priority legislations, or even to retract his socio-economic policies,” Bishop Bagaforo said.
“It will matter, however, if, at least, for what remains of his term, he will show decency and integrity,” he pointed out.
Father Antonio Labiao, executive secretary of Caritas Philippines, echoed the bishop’s statement and urged Duterte to be a unifying leader, especially amid the Covid-19 coronavirus [SARS-CoV-2] pandemic.
With less than a year left to his term, Father Labiao said, “We urge the president to take a time off from bravado and profanities.”
However, speaking before the House of Representatives at the Batasang Pambansa in Quezon City, UCAN reported that the 76-year-old Duterte remained defiant over his controversial drug war policy, saying it would continue.
“We still have a long way in our fight against the proliferation of drugs,” he said.
‘If you see them walking around, kindly shoot them dead, and I will be happy. Anyway, you’re only charged in the ICC together with me, so what is the problem of adding another one, another idiot Filipino who has caused great damage to our country?’
Rodrigo Duterte
He said drug dealers were “slow” killers of the country and, in an apparent swipe at the International Criminal Court [ICC], he said he would kill anyone that destroys the Philippine nation.
Fatou Bensouda, former chief prosecutor of the ICC, has called for a formal probe into Duterte’s war on drugs [Sunday Examiner, June 27].
“I will be frank again, I would never deny and the ICC can record it: Those who destroy my country, I will kill you. And those who destroy the young people of our country, I will kill you. I will really kill you. Because I love my country,” he said.
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Duterte defended his drug war, claiming it had been successful and brought peace to communities.
“Our unyielding campaign has led to the surrender of millions of drug dependents and the neutralisation, capture and prosecution of drug figures,” he said.
‘Instead, what we got is red-tagging [labelled as communist] and the unabated killing of labour leaders, union members and other activists’
PJ Dizon
However, rights groups say police have often killed drug suspects illegally, while unknown assassins have claimed the lives of many others after being encouraged by Duterte.
The president taunted the ICC again by ordering the armed forces to go after and kill suspected communists.
“If you see them walking around, kindly shoot them dead, and I will be happy. Anyway, you’re only charged in the ICC together with me, so what is the problem of adding another one, another idiot Filipino who has caused great damage to our country?” Duterte said.
The president also urged the Philippine Congress to pass a bill to provide free legal aid to military and police charged over actions in line of duty, while continuing to take shots at the ABS-CBN media giant, which was forced off television screens in May 2020, media reports said.
Thousands of people took to the streets prior to his address to protest against extrajudicial killings and call for an end to his presidency.
In Duterte’s own hometown of Davao City, the Inquirer reported that groups launched five-minute picket protests to remind the president of the promises he failed to keep.
“We want to ask him about the promises that he made, including his promise to end labor contractualisation, that was the reason we supported him [in the 2016 elections], PJ Dizon, secretary-general of Kilusang Mayo Uno, said.
“Instead, what we got is red-tagging [labelled as communist] and the unabated killing of labour leaders, union members and other activists,” Dizon said.
Vicentian Father Danny Pilario condemned Duterte’s speech, saying it lacked humanity, UCAN reported.
“[He has] proven unworthy. Whatever he said in his last speech, politics could just not be about power, be it brazen or benign. There is never a substitute for steadfast virtue and humanness in politics,” Father Pilario said in a Facebook post.
