BACK TO FORM
It was undeniably President Rodrigo Duterte who was in charge on Monday night during his national address as he fumed over the country turning into a narco state in the previous dispensation courtesy of detained Senator Leila de Lima.
De Lima made a lot of insinuations about the health of the President, saying that Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go was covering up for him while he was out of the public eye last week, with the accusation of the legislator “misleading” Filipinos.
For that, the generator of intrigues got a tongue lashing from Mr. Duterte, who is known for not holding back on what is in his mind.
“This Leila de Lima. Stop covering for what? For what crime? What you entered into could destroy our country,” the President unloaded.
Duterte said De Lima deserved to be detained since she insulted the country by allowing illegal drugs to proliferate under her watch.
Indeed, in the assessment of experts, the country was on the verge of turning into a narco state had the war on drugs not been initiated by Mr. Duterte when he was voted into office.
Filipinos voted the former Davao City mayor to the presidency due to his commitment to eradicate crime and the drugs problem.
The consistent high public approval ratings on him were mostly about his unswerving determination to halt the proliferation of narcotics. This was the same sense of purpose shown in programs he crafted in response to the equally tough challenge posed by the coronavirus disease 2019.
De Lima and his yellow minions are
“Duterte desperately trying to pin President Duterte on rights violations, employing
said De Lima
the Western line that the war on
deserved to be detained since drugs does not follow internationally
she insulted accepted norms.
the country Through machinations in which
by allowing she was believed to be among
illegal drugs
ringleaders, a “crimes against
to proliferate
humanity” complaint was filed
under her watch. against him with the International
Criminal Court based on allegations that were already proven to be fabrications during investigations in Congress.
Debilitating drugs and crime syndicates were the first steps taken to restore public trust in government, which were lost during the years of incompetence and neglect under the previous administration.
Based on testimonies of high-profile inmates of the maximum-security New Bilibid Prison, illegal drugs have been distributed like ordinary commodities in the past regime and the influence of drugs syndicates had infiltrated the government through De Lima.
Mr. Duterte used to carry with him a thick list of government officials involved in the illegal drugs trade, containing at least 5,000 “verified names” that prompted him to not let up on his war on drugs.
Duterte said his predecessor tolerated the narcotics industry to the point that the Philippines has turned into a “narco-state.”
The President noted thousands of policemen, municipal mayors and city mayors were involved in the drugs that, when he found out about the problem’s extent, he wanted to give up since he may not fulfill what he had set out to do.
“The portals of national government were open to the contamination of narco-politics, sadly, because De Lima entered it herself,” the President explained.
De Lima quipping “Am I still your problem?” placed the dilemma on Mr. Duterte in perspective since the deeply-ingrained infestation of the government by the drugs syndicates was through her fault.
“Duterte said his predecessor tolerated the narcotics industry to the point that the Philippines has turned into a narco-state.