Oath Taking of League of Cities and Provinces Officers

Transcript of speech of the President during the oath taking of the officers of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) and the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) on 27 July 2016 at the Heroes Hall, Malacañan Palace.

SPEECH OF PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE

DURING THE OATH TAKING OF NEW OFFICERS OF THE

LEAGUE OF CITIES OF THE PHILIPPINES (LCP) AND

LEAGUE OF PROVINCES OF THE PHILIPPINES (LPP)

Heroes Hall, Malacañang

July 27, 2016

Kindly sit down. Thank you.

I’ll dispense with the acknowledgements of our presence. Lahat naman tayo nandito magkakilala na. And, you know, I was for the longest time mayor of Davao City. A good 23 years. Kaya naiilang ako pag magtindig-tindig kayo, even doon sa National Security Council.

Sanay ako ng—kaya I’d rather you address me as Mayor kasi mas maganda pakinggan. Ang Presidente kasi minsan naiilang ako. I am not used to this kind of life.

Alam mo, ‘nong unang panahon, I said, I was the whipping boy. Lahat na pati ‘yung extrajudicial killing. Adre, sino ba naman may gustong pumatay ng tao. We cannot build a nation over the dead bodies of our own citizens.

Ang problema ‘yung binigyan ng armas lahat, everybody was holding a licensed gun. Umuso na ‘yung criminality. Kasi ‘yung ang style nila noon sa Davao: umakyat sila ng bahay, yung mga mayaman, iho-hold nila at maghingi sila ng ransom. Hindi man maibigay kaagad kasi pera mo nasa bangko. And you know in the bank you cannot withdraw one million, two million, three million at one time para ibigay mo doon sa kidnappers. So they stayed in the house. They just while away their time, raping the wife, raping the maids and the daughters.

Kaya ‘yun ang umpisa ng rage ko diyan sa criminality. Eh, prosecutor ako eh. Akalain mo pagdating ng droga ‘yun na. Nagre-rape ng bata, pinapatay ‘yung tatay, sinusuntok ‘yung nanay kung hindi magbigay ng pera. Alam ninyo ‘yan. May nagnanakaw.

Then, came the problem of criminality. Because they have to have the ‘fix’ everyday, kinukuha nila sa ibang tao. So they wanted money to come to their hands at the expense of somebody else’s life. Kasi kaya nandito, sinasaksak nila, hold up dito, hold up doon. Until such time that it became a vogue, a fad sa mga kriminal na mag-hit muna, whatever the professions. Ano pa sila, in the practice. Halos lahat tumitira na kasi hindi na matatakot. You lose the sense of fear pag naka-shabu ka.

Ang problema niyan, sabi ng mga forensics, one year of using shabu almost everyday would shrink the brain of a person. Nandito ba si PDEA? Yes, Sir. Sid, maupo ka lang. You just join us, dito. He is General Lapeña who is our PDEA. He was my chief of police many years ago. He earned his force in Davao while also working as special counsel. Mga junior officers na yan ko sila. He coasted along to be my chief of police and RT. Together with si Delfin Lorenzana, the Secretary of Defense. He was assigned there. He brought in the first range, second ranger, scout rangers sa Davao, Martial Law years.

So, ngayon, I was appalled by the misery and agony. Sabi ng PDEA three years, two years ago, that there are three million addicts in this country. So, that’s why we have this serious problem. Kinausap ko ‘yung congressman, mag-tulong kayo because ang sa kampanya ko, I was never as serious and as more of a man when I was campaigning and I was saying: “Do not destroy the youth of this land.’

Now, I cannot divulge to you everything that transpired or what was given to us by the security agencies all over the world. But, if you are asking me now. “Bakit itong,’ sabi, “si Duterte ‘yung maliliit lang. Where’s the big fish? Bakit ‘yung mga pobre?’

Walang big fish dito. Kasi ‘yung noon meron. Pero when they sense—because they have this mansions and cars, enjoying life—but when they realize that killing time was coming, nagsibatan na. Now, they are using modern technology. They have this high, refined digital map. He will give the orders to his lieutenants here. Sabihin lang niya, itong sa mapa tingnan niya. “O, i-focus mo sa Tondo, o Pandacan, o dito. I-drop ninyo diyan banda sa… tapos ‘yung pera kunin mo, may naka-parking doon. May babae, kunin mo lang ang bayad.’

O, how are we supposed to deal with the problem? Sinabi ko na, I wanted to confront them. Hindi lang dito. It’s everywhere in Asia. Kaya ‘yung blangko ‘yung amin diyan kung sino ‘yung mga drug lords, walang mga mukha because they are out of the country. I would need international warrant of arrest to arrest or go to war. But can we afford it? Walang mag…

So dito, you know, let me, I said, baka ma-offend kayo. Lolo ko Chinese. Pure Chinese, Lam. Nanay ko, Maranao also. Ganito ‘yan, ang Instik, okay lang ‘yan sila sa wholesale-wholesale. ‘Yung may ginansya. Maliit nga ‘yung tubo pero kung the entire Pandacan pati Tondo mo, at the end of the day ang collection mo milyon.

Kaya ang nakikita nila, sabi cradling a dead cadaver there. Madrama pa. Because there is the apparatus. Unless I destroy the apparatus, they will have a problem. Three presidents from now would not be able to solve it. Masyado kasing corrosive ang pera eh. So they can buy, you know, judges, fiscals, the police, mayors, governors, ganon talaga eh, pera.

And one time, there was this operation in Davao. You know, sabi niya: “Buhayin mo lang ako, pati ‘yung dalawang chemist na babae, we’ll deliver you 500 million.’ Eh kung ikaw pulis ka lang, ang sweldo mo maski na prosecutor, maski na judge, oh bigyan ka ng 200 million for the case o 50 million—talagang babagsak ‘yan. Alam mo, sinasabi ko na sa inyo. Wala na ako sa politika. I cannot hanker for more, presidente na ako. But in this fight, I will stake my honor, my life and the presidency.

Impeach? Sige, impeach. At least libre na ako. O ‘di sige na-impeach ako, ‘di alis na ako. Ganon. Wala man akong problema diyan. Wala akong ilusyon dito sa… In the first place, ayaw ko nga tumakbo eh. Eh kaya sabi ko, nadisgrasya, nandito ako, may malaki ang problema ko. Tulungan ninyo ako. Kaya ako sabi ko talaga, magprangka ako, hindi ako ano diyan sa—tatapusin ko ito. Tatapusin ko. Ako ang inabot eh. Kayo eh. ‘Yan ang mahirap. This… it’s not a… it’s a drug problem. It’s a drug crisis. 300, 170,000 surrenderees. Is that a police problem? The police cannot solve it. They are into it. Mind you, hindi ‘yan galing sa amin intriga, galing ‘yan sa intercept. A country friend of ours provided us the intercept. Hindi nga ako makakapanood eh. I had to go to every policeman. Totoo ito.

Kasi, you know, pinaaral ka diyan sa PMA. Gastos ng gobyerno, four years. Pagka-opisyal mo, bigyan ka ng ranggo, career and honorable name. Tapos hanggang, then you waste everything by committing treason against your own country.

I cannot show you kasi ano eh. It’s a matter of security. But kunwari lang dalhin ko kayo doon and I will give you the matrix of how it’s being played. So, transshipment tapos dito nagluluto. Ngayon, wala na masyado kasi patay talaga eh.

This serious problem now reaching millions. Mabuti’t nandito kayo at tutulong kayo. So I’ve been trying to figure out how I can cope up with the problem. At tsaka sabihin ko sa inyo: Francis, alam mo kung ituro ka, takbo ka presidente. Walang… Anong ipalit mo doon?

Nagpaloko lang kasi ako nung… gusto ko suntukin ‘yung… Hanggang pag-ano pa lang, pag-upo ko pa lang ng first day na hindi pa ako na-proclaim sa Davao, hanggang alas-tres, alas-kwatro.

Ngayon, I started at 3 o’clock. Tapos pag-uwi ko, magba-barge ako, matulog. Wala na lahat. Pagod ka na at ‘yung problema. Tapos tinanong ko ang sweldo, 130,000. ‘Di mabuti pa nag-mayor ako. ‘Yun lang pala. Ewan ko nga kung may allowance pa ako dito o wala. Hindi ako makatanong. Wala man ako matanungan. Mag-akyat ako diyan, wala. Totoo, alam mo man? What’s really pushing me to move, my love for my country. Mahal ko talaga ang bayan ko and everybody. Alam ko, (applause) there’s a huge problem. The enormity and the dimension of which has never been shown in the past in this country. Eh ang malas natin tayo ang inabutan. Eh ako. Alam mo, alang anong sabihin ko: ‘Wag, you know that is bad.’ Ano ako, pari?

Because in this country, alam ninyo ‘yan, kasi kayo mga abugado. Nawala na ‘yung essence of fear to violate a law. Kasi nabibili na eh. With the sure corrosive effect of money, kayang bilhin, sad to say, hanggang sa itaas. Hindi matapos ang problema eh. May protector. Sila mismo ang nagluluto. Ngayon, hindi na, kasi alam ng mga big time, talagang yayarain sila. So, nagsibatan.

But, the problem is with the state of technology now, they can use ganon that easy. So magtanong kayo, maski kami dito sa aming matrix, blangko ang mga pangalan, ay, ang mukha. Ang pangalan nandyan. I don’t know if it’s really the, they’re using the real name. Mahirap ang labanan na ‘to. Kaya timely talagang punta kayo dito because I knew or I know that there is not so much space. Kaya sabi ko sa military, the Armed Forces, to open up their camps.

Kasi ‘yang mga military naman ang malalaking reservation. Open up your camps and I will set there something. Parang barracks style na yung recalcitrant, or those guys na ayaw talagang magpakulong o hindi na, it’s no longer of service to humanity because they are—padala nalang natin ng—we have just to control their flow of movement. Ang masakit kasi even the brightest of our children are into drugs, binibiktima na. What is lost there as I said, the sense of accountability, so how do you do it? Eh di ang apparatus sirain mo talaga ang apparatus hanggang maubos. Wala, wa, ti may magawa kayo? Ilan ang inyo diyan ngayon surrenderees? May magawa ba kayo diyan? Let me put it bluntly to you what can you do? Di sige daw, pasok mo sa rehab labas yan ganon pa rin.

So yung in the spirit of a—I said, we cannot build a nation by killing people over the bodies of your fellow citizens but you have to control—so yung sira na, you have to check with them if they are talagang maresuscitate pa, ika nga, lagay nalang natin diyan. Anyway, we don’t need any legal basis. The legal basis is we take him in to for his own protection, that’s why we are allowed to arrest insane people for compulsory confinement, why? It is to protect him from harm and to protect the public. But eventually they have to move up. The Chief of Staff, Sir, I assure you that just try to help us from the time being but until such time that we’ll be able to build really yung parang talagang rehab centers all over the country and it would take time and money. But as a stopgap measure just to come up with something that’s viable ilagay nalang natin sa mga kampo muna. High wire lang, para buti yan kay matakot man sila, and for the meantime na mag rehab. So, we have to spend so much about doctors. I know that because my rehab facility ako sa Davao. It’s a 50 bed capacity. Nilagay ko yan kay sabi nila pinapatay ko raw yung mga bata. Wag kayong maniwala. Maski ginusto ko, even if I’m given that right, those who got it, hindi ko kaya magpatay ng bata pati babae. In the meantime na wala tayong space kasi pagka umaga they have to exercise, that’s part of the rehab eh. But ang nakita ko ang pinaka—I mean, Senator Sotto had a good brief for itong rehabilitation—pero nakita ko ang pinaka yung dumikit talaga ang based onBorn Again na ano. Sila, sila ang medyo nakaka manage na to wean daily away from drug, yung iba wala. Yang mga technical-technical turuan sila, wala. So, yan ang problema ko, I saw so much, but I said I have to destroy the apparatus. And it’s a very cruel game in this world na you earn a living at the expense of your fellowmen. Pag tinamaan mo anak ko babae man o lalaki, wala na, wala nang silbi eh.

Should you deprive me of a future? You know why, hindi naman tayo mayaman, pagtanda natin we have to be with our—parang Chinese tayo, Filipino—sila na yang magbibili ng medisina, sila na yung magpakain sa iyo. Wala, wala talagang, wala na tayong silbi sa mundo, and you place in jeopardy my very own existence. Baka patayin ako ng anak ko or you deprive me of a future life kasi ikaw diyan karamihan yan makikita ko—well, isa diyan magtayo kayo ng Home for the Aged. Ako may Home for the Aged ako. Gasto ko 33 million, comfortable life sila, maraming nagtapos, lahat—ayaw ko lang yung magsugal that all—may TV, everything, but ayoko yung maski yung barabaraha. Ayaw ko kasi magpustahan yang wala ring ibang pero kawawa eh. Ti tayo maalanganin magpunta tayo ng home for the aged, babiyahe pa ako ng Tarlac kasi hindi ako kilala: ‘Davao, kawawa ang Rody oh, diyan lang sa…’ Saan tayo pupunta eh di sa anak natin. Eh ngayon kung patayin mo yung anak ko spiritually, saan ako pupunta?

So, actually threatened tayong lahat eh, hindi lang natin alam yan. Isipin mong dalawa ang anak mo, pag may anak ka na adik sa bahay mo may problema ka na for all time. May iba diyan naghiwalay ang mga asawa. Alam mo kung bakit, they start to blame each other, tapos maghiwalay. Kagaya yan mamatayan ka ng anak, kaya yung iba diyan if you cannot handle the agony maghiwalay kayo mag-asawa because the other guy would always say: “Eh ikaw kasi, kana kana,’ mga ganon. It’s not easy to lose a child dead. Or it’s not easy to lose a child wala ng isip.

So, actually it’s our very existence ang nakapusta dito. Kaya ako sabi ko, ulitin ko, nakapus… ipupusta ko, “my honor, my life, even the presidency.’ I can let go of this. Kaya I’ve offered, I offered to Congress if you can fast track the federal set up so that it would bring peace to Mindanao, particularly. I will deal with the Abu Sayyaf later on. It’s closely connected also with the aspiration of the Moro people eh, its historical injustice is one. Sabi ko madalian ninyong… then you have my advice to you guys is do not go for a pure parliament, patay tayo. This is not a country na walang lahat na sumusunod ng batas. We have sadly, and without offending my race, you have not reach that kind of level of civilization. Puwede lang mga ano but you have to maintain the institution of the presidency. My advice is copy the French set up. We have to have because ang Filipino gusto talaga niya magboto ng presidente yan. Hindi mo kunin sa kanila yan eh. So wala man sila tignan mo ang importante sa election, you’d really say except ikaw mismo ang mayor, yang mga senador pati iba, they lost their significance, di ba? Minsan magsabi, bahala na kung sino, ayaw mo magboto di wag.

We take for granted that they will chose their own. Hindi natin dinidikdik yan pagka ito si senador, ah wala na yan, pero ikaw presidente pati mayor eh yan ang sinisigurado mo. Yung konsehal pwede nang matalo yan pwedeng manalo, depende sa swerte niya sa buhay, ganon yan. So, maintain the—if they can shorten the proceedings, you have a Constitution that’s federal in three or two years, then you have to elect a president. Of course, that would automatically, legally, hindi na ako pwede. So, I will offer to resign. Two years, if you have the federal set up, I will resign as president. Three years, sibat ako. Four years? Ay salamat. And it would really be a… pag ako nagtatrabaho ako, do not be, do not feel shortchange. My will to work is there, pero if you ask me if I’m happy, I am not. It’s a lonely… pag-uwi ko dun trabaho tapos gigisingin, Sir, gising na, sir kasi alas tres.

Minsan, my father died and there was a temporary interruption, there were times na naglalakad ako at umiiyak ako, pero sikreto lang, na I knew that it’s the life. Ganon talaga ang buhay. But, again, it’s getting late, I would like to repeat my song, mahirap talaga ito mabigat, and I would like also to thank Alan for expediting my sharing with you this moment. Kumain na kayo? Hurot naman, bakante na ‘no? Sige ihiwa, kami pala wala pa. So, but if there’s anything, ako wala na akong politika ha. Hindi naman ako maga—nandiyan na ako sa itaas. I will never engage yung, except politically maybe to help during election time, pero maglapit kayo waay naman problem. Do not be hesitant to—there’s no really reason for you to avoid me. Wala na ako, tapos na ako. Bilib ako, totoo yan kasi si Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, pag sabi ko sa order ko na I need, the following day may folder na kaagad. Ganon ang at saka gusto ko military eh. You know in—do not hesitate to use the military, the police, and all government pero maasahan ninyo in terms of lahat ano… it’s only the military and the police.

Military kasi pagpunta ka sa kampo, sabihin mo, saan yung CO ninyo? Wala dito. Sino yung second? Sige, kailangan ko ng… without… Kaya sila inincrease ko yung suweldo, without any hesitation pag sinabi mong maski sa na Mamasapano you go there and die, wala. Wala ka, kaya ito sila—sabi ko and my justification is I cannot run a country with a corrupt police, puro hingi dito hingi doon, tumatanggap ng droga. At least meron sila dahan-dahan lang. Twice kayo sinabi ko, campaign promise yan. Bakit, kung hindi patay ka. Mahirap ang starting salary, the entry is 14,000. Kung nandito ako sa Maynila paano ko pakainin yung pamilya mo. Ay, di ganon ka. That’s really pag hindi pa makuha ang dimensions ng problema wala talaga, simple lang, I will help you. Kaso, do not kanang ‘wag mong haluhan yang utak mo ng politika-politika. Ako ang tao pag nag shake hands sa akin o nagsabi, ‘Adre, surrender ako.’ Talo na o tumba na. Okay na ako. ●