MANILA, Philippines – Rodrigo Duterte has something to say about politicians and critics who don’t think he can quash crime, drugs, and corruption in 6 months.
“Sabi ng mga kalaban ko, imposible raw. Kasi bayot kayo!” he said during a farmers’ election forum on Wednesday, February 3, in Quezon City. (My enemies say, it’s impossible. Because they're sissies!)
Duterte has been repeatedly saying he will end criminality, drugs, and corruption in government in 3 to 6 months.
He envisions himself as the discipline-enforcer of a country where, he constantly laments, “following the law is only an option.”
The timeline he has given himself is stringent, he admitted, but not impossible.
Those who say so only lack the political will, he insisted.
“Hindi nila kaya. Kasi alam mo mga ‘yan takot mapreso. Takot magkamali, takot pumatay, takot mamatay. Kasi bakit, mayaman. Ang mga mayaman, takot mamatay, nawiwili sa pera,” he told reporters after the event.
(They can’t do it. They are scared to go to prison. They are scared to make mistakes, to kill, to die. Why? Because they are rich. The rich are scared to die because they are hooked on money.)
Duterte, who has said he would “gladly die” at the hands of a druglord, maintained that he is the only presidential bet with the political will to end the “oppression” of the people.
“Tayo, anumang wilihin natin, we can go anytime, wala naman tayong pera,” he said. (We, whatever we wish, we can go anytime, I don’t have any money.)
In the platform he shares with running mate Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, Duterte has promised to use all the powers of the presidency to end crime.
He intends to accomplish this by increasing salaries of police and military, creating special criminal courts for the speedy trial of heinous crimes, and retiring corrupt policemen and generals.
To stop corruption, he said he would call for the abolition of the pork barrel system and the opening of bank accounts of politicians for public scrutiny.
He also supports the passage of the Freedom of Information Act. – Rappler.com