Illegal drugs will destroy the country and will lead to “dysfunctional” families, President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said.
Duterte also said said groups such as the International Criminal Court “were easy to criticize his war on drug because they do not understand the threat of narco politics on the Filipinos.”
Duterte, according to a GMA News report, said the billions of pesos worth of drugs seized by authorities in the six years of his administration’s anti-illegal drugs campaign “are testament to the pervasiveness of the illegal substance in the country.”
“Drugs will destroy our country maniwala kayo sa akin. I’m sure you know somebody pag ang pamilya [ninyo] bantayan ninyo ito pag naging tatay kayo, pag ang pamilya may isa lang nacontaminate ng droga that family becomes dysfunctional,” he said.
“Mag-away ang mag-asawa quarreling, blaming each other ang tatay at nanay,” he added.
Duterte became President in 2016 and one of his campaign promises is to stamp out crime and illegal drugs in six months.
Various reports said Duterte’s administration’s first months were marked by his war on drugs, which many blame for the thousands of cases of alleged extrajudicial killings.
“Gaya noon, early noon dumaan sabi nila na bakit kay Duterte maraming patay? Kasi noon takot ang mga tao, takot ang pulis na magkakaso kasi ang pagdinemanda na ng pulis ma-counter charge, abogado ako, that’s the practice,” Duterte said.
“Nakita ko it corrupted the police, it corrupted the prosecutor, drugs corrupts the charges and everything,” he added.
“Gaya sabi ko noon sa Davao, noon mayor ako, do not destroy my city, do not destroy the young, mga anak namin. Kapag ginawa mo yun, I will kill you. So nagkaroon ako ng kaso, wala naman ako pinatay, kung may pinatay man ako, nakalimutan ko na rin,” Duterte said.
In November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) suspended its investigation into Duterte’s bloody anti-drugs campaign after the Philippines asked the tribunal to defer its probe.
The government said it is investigating the deaths.
Earlier, Duterte repeatedly said that he would only face a Philippine court and if convicted, would choose to be imprisoned in Muntinlupa.
Duterte reiterated his stance on the ICC’s investigation of alleged crimes against humanity committed during his administration’s drug war, saying that his campaign was implemented “to protect the children and their future.”