Speech of the President During AFP Change of Command

SPEECH OF PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE

DURING THE PARADE AND REVIEW IN HIS HONOR

AND THE ARMED FORCES OF THE PHILIPPINES CHANGE OF COMMAND CEREMONY

AFP General Headquarters Grandstand, Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City

July 01, 2016

Kindly sit down. Thank you.

Troop Commander, give the order of ‘Tikas pahinga.”

The Vice President Leni Robredo. This is my first time to meet you personally. (laughter/applause) I would have preferred to be seated beside you but andiyan si Defense eh; (laughter) President Fidel V. Ramos, the first Filipino who journeyed to Davao City to ask me to run for public office and presidency. (applause) And he said to me, you run because it is high time that Mindanao should have its President. Maraming salamat sa iyo, Sir; (applause) Secretary Delfin Lorenzana. We were together in Davao many years ago, and of course, that is why I choose him kasi yung kilala ko. Eh yung iba hindi ko kilala, so; Lieutenant General Glorioso Miranda, Sir. Please sit down, Sir. Napapahiya ako; (laughter) Bishop Leopoldo Tumulak; the members of the Diplomatic Corps; major service commanders and the men and women of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; members of the Foreign Service Attachés; fellow workers in government; my beloved countrymen.

Alam mo, the first job of the President is not to go to war but rather to bring peace to his land. So, even before I was already proclaimed but before assumption of office, I was busy going around Mindanao and talking to a lot of people to bring about peace in our land. Started with the Left and with the NPAs, and we got a favorable answer from the leaders including Maria Sison, Jose Maria Sison. Alam mo, it was in the 1970s na nakinig ako kay Maria Sison, Jose Maria Sison talking about revolution. And I was then in the AB and half of it, well, of course, sa College of Law. And I am now 71 years old and the Communist Party IS still talking of a revolution. Kaya sinabi ko sa kanila, initially, “Anong gusto ninyo sa bayan natin?” I was a student. Ako, lolo na ako ngayon at naging Presidente pa. I don’t know really why. (laughter) You have to supply the answer. Maybe President Ramos can give us an idea. (laughter) Well, we got this favorable response from the outside and started to talk. I went to the camp of Murad and started to talk to the Central Committee and Jafar. And since Nur is a friend of mine, when I said, “Nur, we are about to go. Matanda na tayong dalawa. Are we still going to fight at this time?”

My job is to bring peace. My job is to talk to the enemies of the state, to the Communist Party of the Philippines, to the MILF and to the MN, and see if I could make a difference in our lives. Alam mo, hindi ko sinali ang Abu Sayyaf neither dito o sa criminal campaign natin because the Abu Sayyaf is closely connected with the issue of Mindanao. Originally, mga tao sila ito ng MN pati mga anak na yung MN ngayon, pati MI. And that was where the futility we saw in the Mindanao issue.

Simply stated, they are claiming their historical right and more privileges for them. And I cannot blame them. You know when Magellan landed in Leyte in 1521 bringing Christianity with him and propagated it everywhere in the Visayas and Luzon. 100 years before, Sulu area and some parts of Mindanao were already Islam. And that is why a lot of the historical plan has never really took into consideration that there was this oppression by a series of government na hindi kanila. And I think, that until now, we are trying to repress them.

And I said to them, you know, you cannot drive us away anymore. Kagaya ko at pati yung mga anak ko, ako pa sarili Moro already. I have a branch of my family, my little boys and girls who are Moro. And so, it behooves upon me I think to really look for the answer and if I can hack it, and if I can to talk to Maria Sison and bring about, not a coalition government, an inclusive government—they there are already. And I said that just so long as the powers that could pertain to matters belonging to the police and the military—hindi ho sa inyo yan—but all others, the mundane matters of governance I can give it to you, and we are talking. Next week we are to talk to the MI and eventually I think, I’ll have to travel to Jolo to talk to Nur. I am willing to give them safe conduct passes, only the leaders, at baka matsambahan ko na magkaroon tayo ng mapayapa. And if that happens really, I can retire happy and I can look back and say that I did my duty in nation building. (applause) It is not a war to be fought forever. We cannot fight forever. We might have the weapons, the armaments and the bullets but… and the mortars but does that not make a nation.

My job is to bring peace, but hand in hand I must also bring order in my countr. Alam mo sa totoo lang, we can only take so much. I am not warning Abu Sayyaf but I said there will always be a time for reckoning. When? Just keep our fingers crossed and I said we can only swallow so much. We cannot be the whipping boy of a few who wants nothing but maybe money and power in their hands. And so also with the problem now, a very serious problem of the country. Eh saan ka nakakita dito ng gobyerno na ang trafficking ng drugs is being controlled inside the Bilibid prison. Sa atin lang, at parang sampal yan ng ilang beses. And how it came about into being is really, well, I would have said in neglect. Eh how can it happen na kung mag inspection ka sa Bilibid you have to ask permission from the idiots inside. Ay, naku! This is my first day, I’m warning them—they have their TVs there inside. Kaya napasyal ako noon, pagpasok ko—I was there to see, I accompanied Pastor Quiboloy to pray over kay Webb, yung anak ni Webb, who was in Muntinlupa—at pagdaan ko doon sa death row, ‘Oy, Mayor, Mayor.’ Akala ko naman taga Davao, sabi ko ang rami niyong taga Davao nakulong ah. Sabi nila, ‘hindi, Mayor mga Ilocano kami halo-halo, mga Waray, nakikita ka namin sa TV. Well, the TV is there now.’ Magbilang kayo ng araw, magbilang kayo ng araw sa ginagawa ninyo, do not be the solution of it all. May problema diyan, hinihiya ninyo ang gobyerno, sinasampal ninyo kami, magbilang kayo ng oras, ayoko ng araw. (laughter/applause) The drugs must be supressed. It cannot be eliminated for as long as the greed for money is there, the very corrosive effect of money has sudden impact on our society. A lot of people, these lives destroyed using it. And noon, they were in the rural areas. Now, they have reached the hinterlands. And they are getting the carabaos, and the pigs, and the chickens, and the eggs Well, nakikinig naman yung mga NPA, nasa pwesto pa naman kayo, ano kaya yung korte ninyo, ang korte ninyo na—I don’t know if it’s a kangaroo or otherwise—eh pagpatayin na lang ninyo para mas madali ang masolusyon ang problema natin.

Anyway, kung maengkwentro ninyo yan it’s always a crime committed in your presence. You do not shoot anybody just because you see them walking, but I know you have this validation. Eh kung kayo diyan sa bukid tatapusin na ninyo yan, mas mabuti wala na rin kayong ginagawa. There is a slowdown in the fighting, why should we be fighting. And as a matter of fact I’m just awaiting for the arrival of Sison to talk to him. And maybe, just maybe, in the fullness of God’s time, we can have peace amongst us.

Yung mga droga eh malala, and I have to call in the Armed Forces of the Philippines to help. Sadly, gusto ko sana ang inyong Board of Generals would be a vibrant entity within the organization. Kasi I promise and as was my practice and during my mayorship days, I never interfered. Kung ano ang trabaho ng pulis, I did not even want to entertain yung request for the assignment of a certain police officer in the Barangays. I’d always tell them, go to the Police Director. I do not want to interfere in the SO. The best support that I can give you, and you can ask anybody, lahat dyan sila nasa gobyerno nag dala-dala ko, you’re once upon a time City Police Directors and, well, the performance was there. Lahat naman mababait at mahusay, except for a few. And in this our society now nagbabaha ang droga, and druglords and the criminals. And there were a lot of Chinese citizens, Filipino or otherwise, kidnapped, ransom demanded, but they would never really returned. So tinapon lang nila kung saan ilibing lang nila kung… These are the things that we have to stop. And that is why I said I would be harsh, not cruel but i would be harsh. And wala akong tolerance sa droga—Zero.

So, yan and laban natin ngayon. Kayong nagbakasyon dito from the fields in Mindanao and in the Visayas, you might want just to join the hunt for them. We will eliminate the druglords once and for all. We have to stop this practice sa Bilibid. Bitawan na ninyo yan o kainin na ninyo ngayon ang supply ninyo. (laughter) O, na, nawala na talaga ang pasensya ko sa inyo. Iniinsulto ninyo kami. Nasa… hinuli, gikuha kayo sa Davao kasi nagluluto kayo ng shabu. Hindi ko kayo pinatay dahil magalit ang Human Rights. Dinala ko kayo diyan sa Muntinlupa after conviction at pagdating diyan nagluluto na naman ng shabu, (laughter) anong klase. Noon kasi hindi ako Presidente, ngayon, we’ll just have to make some adjustment. You know there is always a time for everything. There’s always a time for you to make money and make a mockery out of our laws. There’s always a time for you to be in control even if you are inside the prison, but there is always a time to rest and to die. Ganun ang buhay eh, as you are born there’s also death. I’m not threatening you, I’m just telling you that there is always a time, and for us, the Security Forces, the Armed Forces and the Police, there is always a time. We can only take so much insult. We can only take so much hanggang kaya lang ng sikmura natin. Eh ako ay nasusuka na, and you have to help me put a stop. In the final days of the campaign at Luneta, I gave this statement and I said, I will put at stake my honor, my life and the Presidency. Sinabi ko sa inyo mga criminal, lahat kayo: If you destroy my county, I will kill you! (applause) If you destroy our children, I will kill you. If I am asked by anybody including the Commission on Human Rights, I do not know you.

Salamat po. Thank you. ●