Sunrise industry: Funeral service

MANILA, Philippines - In the time of Dirty Rody, one business can be particularly lucrative.

Sitting down with Tondo residents the other night, President Duterte told them that funeral parlors are expected to flourish as his tough campaign against the drug menace intensifies.

“I am telling you, I am not joking. I really hate drugs. It destroys my country. I love my country. I love you all,” the President said at the “solidarity dinner” at the Delpan Sports Complex in Tondo, Manila hours after his inauguration.

Duterte campaigned and won on a platform of fighting illegal drugs, criminality, corruption and poverty. With dozens of drug suspects killed by police since his election, human rights groups have expressed concern about the campaign, but Duterte has brushed them off.

“The small-time funeral parlors here, you will surely thrive. And if your business is beginning to slow down, I will just tell the police: make it (killings) a bit faster so their businesses will earn,” the President said.

As he was applauded by the audience, Duterte said he was dead serious in eradicating the drug menace.

He expressed gratefulness to the Tondo residents for voting for him although he was just “a small-time mayor from Davao” and sought their support so his government would succeed.

The President said the people never knew about his “record” but his message during the campaign resonated because that was what the people apparently wanted from the government.

His trademark cursing was markedly toned down.

“Ako mag-prangka ako sa inyo. Dito sa panahon ko, tatapusin ko ‘yang problema sa droga. Sinisira ang bayan natin at ang mga anak natin na susunod sa atin dito sa mundong ito, sinisira ng mga put*** **ang ito (I will be frank with you. During my time, I will end the drug problem. These sons of wh**es destroy our country and our children),” Duterte said.

“Ako po’y galit. Pati ‘yung mga pulis dito sa Maynila, nakasabit sa droga. Ako po’y nakikiusap, huwag ho kayong pumasok diyan kasi papatayin ko talaga kayo. Hindi man siguro ngayong gabi, hindi man siguro bukas, pero sa anim na taon, may isang araw ka talaga magkamali ka at hihiritan kita (I am mad. Even the police here in Manila, they are linked to drugs. I am making an appeal, do not get into drugs because I will really kill you. Maybe not tonight, maybe not tomorrow, but in six years, there will be a day when you will falter and I will get you),” Duterte added.

Tall order

In his speech, Duterte also seemed to encourage the killing of drug addicts, saying one way or another an addict would die due to illegal drugs or somehow get killed during encounters.

“With the (addicts around, you just do the killing,” he said.

The President said he had given drug pushers and users enough warning to mend their ways and he should not be blamed if they would get killed eventually.

Carjacking may solve traffic?

Duterte also had a tongue-in-cheek message for carjackers, encouraging them to steal cars in a bid to ease traffic congestion in the metropolis.

“You carnappers, may you be able to steal all the cars out there, steal them and bring them to other areas so traffic will ease,” Duterte said.

The President said the traffic congestion would be very difficult to solve and “we are asking for a few months to iron out what we should do.”

Duterte has been seeking emergency powers from Congress to address the traffic and transportation problems in the country.