President Duterte considers oligarchs, terrorists and abusive or corrupt officials who harm or take advantage of the people as enemies who threaten the way of life of Filipinos.
This was the rebuttal of Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘’Bong’’ Go, a close presidential ally, to criticisms against the President's claim that he had dismantled the oligarchy without declaring martial law.
‘’In the eyes of the President, they (oligarchs, terrorists and corrupt or abusive officials) are the enemies who threaten our democratic way of life, and he will not hesitate to fight them to protect the interests of the ordinary Filipinos,’’ Go said.
‘’Sa pagkakaintindi ko (to my understanding), the President was not pertaining to any specific case but was talking about the impact of the administration’s continuing fight against corruption in his address to the military recently,’’ he explained.
‘’Wala naman siyang sinabi kung sino pero dinidiinan niya na sa nakaraang mga taon na nilalabanan natin ang mga corrupt at mga abusado, nagkakataon na lumalabas rin ang katotohanan ukol sa mga maling pamamalakad ng iilang mga grupo o kumpanya sa bansa,’’ he added. (The President did not identify anyone but he emphasized his fight years ago against the corrupt and the abusive, and that what came out was the truth about the wrong management of some groups or companies in the country.)
‘’Hindi ito palalampasin at sisiguraduhin na maisaayos ang mga mali para tuluyang masugpo ang korapsyon at mapang-abusong mga kalakaran. Dahil sa laban nating ito, unti-unti na ring nabubuwag ang sistema ng oligarkiya sa bansa, without the need of declaring Martial Law,’’ Go, a former Special Assistant to President Duterte, stressed. (He did not allow such practices to go on unchecked and wanted to ensure that unacceptable practices are corrected to stop corruption and abusive practices. Because of this on-going battle, the system of the oligarchs is slowly being dismantled without declaring martial law.)
Go stressed that the current fight against corruption and abusive practices stems from his love for country.
‘’I will continue to support the President in this fight in order to rid our country of corruption from top to bottom. Kung mahal mo ang bayan mo, ipaglalaban mo ito laban sa lahat ng nang-aabuso mula sa pinaka-maliit hanggang sa pinakamakapangyarihang gumagawa ng masama sa kapwa nating Pilipino,’’ he said. (If you love your country, you will wage war against the abusive persons from the small ones to the big ones whose acts are inimical to the interests of their countrymen.)
‘’That is why when oligarchs, terrorists, criminals and abusive or corrupt officials try to harm or take advantage of the people---in the eyes of the President, they are the enemies who threaten our democratic way of life, and he will not hesitate to fight them to protect the interests of the ordinary Filipinos,’’ he added.