Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte reiterates threat to kill drug dealers, denies taking money from China
- In his final State of the Nation Address, the president has admitted there is a ‘long way’ to go in his war on drugs, which has killed thousands
- He also says he was not paid by Beijing during his 2016 presidential campaign to be soft on the South China Sea, and vows never to visit the US
“When I first said I will fight drugs in six months, I thought it was like in Davao, [where] you can either coerce, intimidate or bribe them, or give them money,” he told the audience of lawmakers, diplomats and judges.
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“[But I did not know I was fighting my own government, customs and everyone else who was facilitating the import of drugs … We still have a long way in our fight against the proliferation of drugs.”
Large chunks of the 76-year-old strongman’s rambling address were devoted to his “unyielding” anti-narcotics campaign, which has officially killed more than 6,000 people.
Rights groups put the figure in the tens of thousands and International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutors are seeking to investigate the campaign.
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Duterte defended the crackdown, saying it had “led to the surrender of millions of drug dependents and neutralisation, capture and prosecution of thousands of drug personalities”.
“Those who destroy my country, I will kill you,” he said after challenging the ICC to record his comments. “And those who destroy the young people of our country, I will kill you.”
On his campaign promise to end corruption “in three to six months” after taking office, Duterte said on Monday: “Corruption is endemic. Nobody can really stop corruption unless you overturn the system … fire everybody and declare martial law.”
Under his administration, the Philippines passed laws instituting free tuition in state universities; universal health care; higher pay for soldiers and policemen; and the cutting of red tape to ease business.
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“As I said in September of last year, the arbitral award is now part of international law and beyond compromise and beyond the reach of any passing government to dilute, diminish or abandon.”
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Duterte thanked Asean and countries that had supported the Philippines. “We will work with you to achieve our shared objectives. but make no mistake, gone are the days when the Philippines decides and acts in the shadow of the great powers.”
He then abandoned his written comments to deny that he had been paid by China during his 2016 presidential run in exchange for being soft on Beijing.
“I would rather not be president than do that,” he said, adding: “What, receiving money from China to buy votes?”
The denial was apparently prompted by a July 12 statement from former foreign secretary Albert del Rosario, who said reliable information had been received in February 2019 that “high officials from China are bragging that they had been able to influence the 2016 Philippine elections so that Duterte would be president”.
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He brought up the Balangiga bells, seized by American forces as a trophy in 1901, and said he had been told early in his presidency that the bells would have been returned if he promised to visit the US.
The US gave back the bells in 2018 without a Duterte trip there, and he reiterated on Monday: “I have not visited America and I do not have the intention of visiting it any more.”
“The entire Filipino nation is proud of you,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a message to the 30-year-old Diaz.
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Diaz was in 2019 named by the Duterte administration in a chart that it claimed showed a plot to undermine the president’s rule, saying at the time that she feared for her and her family’s life. The unsubstantiated accusation did not affect Diaz’s military career, as she has since been promoted.
On Twitter, Filipino netizens greeted the historic win and thanked Diaz for lifting the country’s spirit amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Thank you for carrying us all,” they tweeted, while some joked that her victory also showed that the Philippines can actually beat China, in reference to a territorial dispute between the two countries in the South China Sea.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and DPA