SAN MIGUEL, Bulacan, Philippines – About 1,000 names are on the new list of government officials with alleged links to illegal drugs, President Duterte said yesterday.
The President vowed to reveal the names soon as part of his intensified campaign against drugs.
“The final report is there. I’m going to make it public. I spoke with Congress and asked them what I will do with this. There are 1,000 barangay captains, policemen, mayors, governors and judges,” he told members of the First Scout Ranger Regiment at Camp Tecson here.
To further motivate Scout Rangers to help in the narcotics crackdown, Duterte announced that he is giving each of them a Glock pistol.
He said a certain Ernie Gutierrez donated the firearms.
“I will give this to you to win the fight not to kill,” Duterte said, adding that he would distribute about 1,000 firearms this month.
He said he had asked the intelligence community, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency to fine-tune the list.
While exposing officials with alleged connections to drug lords is no longer new to him, Duterte still expressed frustration over reports reaching him.
“Di ko na kaya ito (I can’t take this anymore),” he said.
The President, who vowed to wage a brutal war against drugs and crime, has linked more than 160 incumbent and former local executives, lawmakers and judges to the illegal drugs trade.
While officials claimed that the expose would allow officials to clear their names, critics believed the announcement of names violates due process.
Duterte claimed that he deliberately shamed officials believed to be into illegal drugs because they act like “superstars.”
“Suddenly, they felt naked,” he added.
The President has promised to suppress drugs and crime within six months and to run after drug lords and their protectors in government. He said there are about 3.7 million drug addicts in the country and warned that failure to address the problem within the next six years would transform the Philippines into a “narco state.”
Close to 3,000 suspected drug offenders have been killed, about half of them in police operations, since Duterte assumed office last June 30.
Duterte acknowledged that he has been criticized for his drug crackdown. He, however, said he would compromise the next generation if he does not implement tough measures against narcotics.
“The problem may outlast me,” he said. “Please take care of the country. I’m doing this because I’m trying to save the next generation.”
Duterte urged soldiers to continue the fight against illegal drugs or their descendants would suffer. He also assured government forces that he would stand by them in case they face charges related to the anti-drug war.