Phl made gains in the fight against illegal drugs, communist insurgency, says President Duterte
The government has made significant headway in the fight against illegal drugs, terrorism and communist insurgency in the past five years, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said.
During
an interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in Davao City on Tuesday, the
President gave his views on a wide range of issues such as the war on drugs,
corruption, communist rebellion and the current political scene.
With
regard to the campaign against illegal narcotics, President Duterte said there
is a substantial decline in the proliferation of illegal drugs in the country
due to much improved intelligence gathering by the authorities.
“Well,
we have seen a lessening of the drugs actually in the Philippines,” the
President told Quiboloy.
“Dito
sa Davao wala na, eh tingi-tingi. But sa ibang lugar mayroon Maynila but they
are almost paralyzed because we have a better intelligence now and it’s
working. Kagaya noon sabi ko I will end the problem of drugs in Manila or in
the Philippines,” he added.
The
administration is also doing well in confronting terrorism, which is also
linked to illegal drug trade, he said, adding terroristic activities were also
contained.
“Ako
talaga ay hardliner, and ganoon talaga ako noon pa, hardliner ako. So since the
beginning of my presidency, we have shown our determination in combatting
insurgency and terrorism with the end goal of attaining lasting sustainable
peace in the country,” President Duterte said.
The
chief executive lauded government forces for apprehending thousands of lawless
elements that substantially decreased the strength of terrorist organizations
in the past five years.
Acknowledging
the decades-long terroristic activities and communist insurgency plaguing the
country, President Duterte said his government launched a multi-sectoral approach
to address the problem.
“I
am, thus, very grateful to our government forces in making it possible for us
to sustain the momentum of the whole-of-the-nation approach to end the insurgency
and terrorism,” he said.
The
President assured the people that the government would continue to carry out
socio-economic development mechanisms to address the root causes of the peace
and order problem in the country.
There’s
a need to win the hearts and minds of the people so that they would not be
easily fall prey to the manipulation of the insurgents and extremist groups, he
said.
President
Duterte also tackled the restoration of the death penalty in the country aimed
at deterring would-be criminals.
“I
have always been for the restoration of the death penalty. I think the law was
not abrogated, suspended lang. So wala. Sinuspend (suspend) lang ‘yong mga ---
just ‘yong the act of killing a criminal,” he said.
“Ako,
basta heinous crime, heinous crime, drugs tapos ‘yong nangyayari ng --- sabi mo
‘yong the atrocities committed against so many innocent persons,” he added. PND
