Apart from the proliferation of shabu, cocaine from international drug cartels is now confronting the government in this country, President Duterte declared last Wednesday.

The President has tagged the notorious drug cartels from Mexico and South America for smuggling loads of cocaine into the country.

“Cocaine is coming in very fast. Pumasok na kasi ang cartel ng Mexico pati South America [The drug cartels from Mexico and South America have come in] so we are dealing now with cocaine and shabu,” Duterte said during his visit to Tarlac last Wednesday.

Faced with the latest drug trafficking problem, the President has renewed his resolve to combat the narcotics trade “by hook or by crook.”

Duterte said the government’s anti-drug campaign would continue to protect the nation despite the International Criminal Court’s inquiry and criticisms from human rights groups.

“By hook or by crook, long range or short range, I have three years, uubusin ko talaga kayo [I will finish you off]. Wala akong pakialam diyan p****** i**** human rights na ‘yan, l****. Hindi ‘yan makatulong sa bayan ko [I don’t care about that son of a b*tch human rights. That won’t help my country],” he said in a later speech in Pampanga.

Last Tuesday, the President also warned of the increasing cocaine supply in the country due to the involvement of the foreign drug cartels. He said he suspected the cartels “about to take over” the cocaine industry in the country.

Meantime, the President slammed the United States for its hypocrisy after criticizing his drug crackdown, only to eventually declare a national emergency on opioid use.

He said the “stupid” Americans were putting to task the Philippine National Police (PNP) for carrying out its Oplan Tokhang campaign but the US authorities eventually conducted similar anti-drug operations.

“‘Yan nga ang mahirap diyan [That’s the difficult part]. If you have an American friend, sometimes it’s not really good because you will come out a very hypocrite nation,” he said in Tarlac. “Noong iniipit nila ako [Before they tried to pin me down]. Sabi ko [I said] ‘You know America, one day to your sorrow, you will realize that you have a problem,'” he said.

Duterte said illegal drugs were “swallowing” the country and yet he has “run afoul” with the ICC and other human rights groups. He noted that having 1.6 million shabu addicts in the country based on the estimates of Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa could already be “hell for this country.”

“In the matter sa drugs, hindi talaga matatapos ‘yan [the campaign will not stop] despite or in spite of the threats of ICC and everything. Wala akong pakialam sa kanila [I don’t care about them],” he said.

“I’m here to protect my country. I believe that if I stop this crusade, it would have compromised the country and the next generation. Then it would have been my failure in my time na wala akong ginawa,” he added.

Duterte said the shabu trade, known as the poor man’s cocaine, could only be operational if there is an organization that manufactures, distributes and sells them.

“Shabu cannot operate on a single one-vendor policy,” he said. “Remember that shabu is a commodity for the poor. Kaya karamihan ang namatay diyan talagang mahihirap [That’s why many of the dead were poor],” he said.

Source:
courtesy of MANILA BULLETIN

by Genalyn Kabiling

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