Rody vows full force vs drug lords

MANILA, Philippines - President Duterte has vowed to use the full force of government against drug lords and even threatened to bomb them using the military jets recently acquired from South Korea. 

Duterte said he would not be cowed by the private armies of political clans with ties to the drug trade.

“I will not hesitate… I will not think twice. I told you to stop, whether you are a congressman, governor, mayor, barangay captain… You are insulting us. You are acting as if there were no president, police or military,” the President said in a press conference in Malacañang last Monday. 

“Do not tell me you have an army. Even if you have 102 to 200 armed men, that won’t help you. Why fight with me? I have 12 FA-50 jets. I will just use five of them to bomb you. I will really use the forces of the government,” he added. 

Duterte said he would not hesitate to bomb those who brutalize innocent civilians.

“My order is really to bomb them. If we commit a mistake, sorry. The people in the Philippines are too melodramatic. Too many pretending to be brave and then they brutalize people,” he said in Filipino. 

Duterte warned anew politicians and generals with ties to drug syndicates, saying he is ready to kill to put an end to their illegal activities. 

“Do not ever commit the mistake of entering (the drug industry). You might not like the consequence,” he said.

The President cited the case of the Parojinogs, the powerful clan in Ozamiz City believed to be involved in illegal drugs. 

Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr., his wife Susan, his brother board member Octavio Parojinog Jr. and sister Mona were killed in an anti-drug raid two weeks ago.

Duterte claimed the family started the Kuratong Baleleng vigilante group that helped the government fight the communist rebels. But the group degenerated into a gang involved in criminal activities.

“A reign of terror ensued. If you are their political rival, you will be killed. The Parojinog family became gangsters who controlled shabu and they killed several policemen in Ozamiz who defied them,” the President said. 

“They killed about four or five, then nobody can talk, nobody can criticize, even the radio stations were silent,” he added. 

Duterte issued a stern warning against those who defy his administration’s drive against narcotics.