Manila Bulletin
Duterte says successful war on drugs starting to be reflected by declining crime rate
Duterte says successful war on drugs starting to be reflected by declining crime rate
Duterte says successful war on drugs starting to be reflected by declining crime rate
By AJ Siytangco
Published Jul 17, 2019 05:27 pm
By Genalyn Kabiling
The country's drug situation has become "low" and the crime rate has declined in recent months, President Duterte said Wednesday amid his relentless campaign against drugs and criminality.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
(RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) The President said he intends to "preserve the accomplishments", particularly in the peace and order front, for the remainder of his term, pledging anew to kill those who destroy the nation. "I have to preserve the accomplishments. The drug situation is quite low and therefore the crime rate, the index crimes, medyo bumaba rin ," he said during a television interview Wednesday morning. "But what is very noticeable is the reduced number of crimes against persons. As for example, robbery on the streets, well sometimes murder but it has dropped to about 40 percent,” he added. In his remarks on television, Duterte claimed that while there were "less drugs" on the streets, the illegal substance continues to be smuggled into the country. "These (drugs) still come in numbers on both sides from the east and western side --- the eastern is the Pacific and the western is the ones facing South China Sea. But I intend to keep it low if not eradicate all. That is one I would like to maintain,” he said. The former Davao City mayor, meantime, warned that people involved in drugs, rape and murder that they did "not deserve any right to live any longer." "I’m not actually interested in killing people except drugs and outright murderers, kidnappers, especially those who well rape children, kill them or kidnap people and demand ransom and after that still go ahead to kill,” he said. Duterte said he promised to make the country's streets safe to people, and he was determined to fulfill this vow. "What I promised was if elected president, I would return the right of the citizens to use the streets, alleys, parks and all without fear," he said. He also remained unfazed by criticisms from human rights groups, which he claimed were only concerned about the dead drug offenders instead of their victims. "If you are counting only the victims and that is one. I said to me, you are just carcass. If you are a criminal to me and I see you there lying down there on the streets, and if I’m sure that you are really a bad guy, you are just plain carcass to me," he said. Unlike his critics, Duterte said he was grieving over the "social dysfunction" in the country due to the drug menace. "There are millions of addicts. And if the breadwinner, the father for example, gets contaminated, the family will collapse. So this will be a socially dysfunctional family," he said. The President issued the statement after rejecting the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution seeking a probe into the alleged killings related to his violent war on illegal drugs. The resolution on the Philippines human rights situation was initiated by Iceland, which Duterte claimed had no problem other than ice.
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte(RICHARD MADELO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN) The President said he intends to "preserve the accomplishments", particularly in the peace and order front, for the remainder of his term, pledging anew to kill those who destroy the nation. "I have to preserve the accomplishments. The drug situation is quite low and therefore the crime rate, the index crimes, medyo bumaba rin ," he said during a television interview Wednesday morning. "But what is very noticeable is the reduced number of crimes against persons. As for example, robbery on the streets, well sometimes murder but it has dropped to about 40 percent,” he added. In his remarks on television, Duterte claimed that while there were "less drugs" on the streets, the illegal substance continues to be smuggled into the country. "These (drugs) still come in numbers on both sides from the east and western side --- the eastern is the Pacific and the western is the ones facing South China Sea. But I intend to keep it low if not eradicate all. That is one I would like to maintain,” he said. The former Davao City mayor, meantime, warned that people involved in drugs, rape and murder that they did "not deserve any right to live any longer." "I’m not actually interested in killing people except drugs and outright murderers, kidnappers, especially those who well rape children, kill them or kidnap people and demand ransom and after that still go ahead to kill,” he said. Duterte said he promised to make the country's streets safe to people, and he was determined to fulfill this vow. "What I promised was if elected president, I would return the right of the citizens to use the streets, alleys, parks and all without fear," he said. He also remained unfazed by criticisms from human rights groups, which he claimed were only concerned about the dead drug offenders instead of their victims. "If you are counting only the victims and that is one. I said to me, you are just carcass. If you are a criminal to me and I see you there lying down there on the streets, and if I’m sure that you are really a bad guy, you are just plain carcass to me," he said. Unlike his critics, Duterte said he was grieving over the "social dysfunction" in the country due to the drug menace. "There are millions of addicts. And if the breadwinner, the father for example, gets contaminated, the family will collapse. So this will be a socially dysfunctional family," he said. The President issued the statement after rejecting the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) resolution seeking a probe into the alleged killings related to his violent war on illegal drugs. The resolution on the Philippines human rights situation was initiated by Iceland, which Duterte claimed had no problem other than ice.