President Duterte is pinning his hopes that his successor would continue his administration’s relentless campaign against illegal drugs, a problem that he described “will destroy our country.”

In his taped public address aired on Tuesday, March 1, Duterte said he is worried about the resurgence of the country’s drug problem once he steps down from office.

“Itong (These) drugs, I hope that whoever will sit as president would continue—if not (with the same degree of) the ferocity that I did (demonstrate). Mas kailangan a (We need a) little lower than my standard kasi talagang sisirain ang bayan natin nito (because it will really destroy our country).

If not his successor, Duterte also expressed hope somebody from the next administration would continue his crackdown on illegal drugs to protect the future generation.

“Ang problema (The problem) is the next generation. We have to protect the next generation, because, if not, they will have a serious problem in their hands,” he said.

The Chief Executive stressed that drug use “almost destroys your spirit” because of the crimes that are spawned by it.

He also shrugged off the pending case against him before the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has since been deferred to give the country a chance to prove its judicial system is working against the killings that happened in the name of the bloody war on drugs carried on by his administration.

“Never mind the ICC. Wala akong pakialam diyan (I don’t care about it), it does not worry me,” he said, adding that the lack of a “full-blooded programs against drugs” was because the police and military are fearful of legal cases.

Duterte is facing charges of crimes against humanity owing to his drug war campaign that official records showed killed more than 6,000 people but which human rights groups claimed to be more than 30,000.