MANILA – As expected in his third State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte renewed his administration’s commitment to the war on drugs.
The tough-talking leader also ordered government agencies to stop corruption and provide better services by eliminating red tape.
Duterte started his speech with the administration’s flagship program.
“Let me begin by putting it bluntly: the war against illegal drugs is far from over,” the President said.
Seized substances since the war on drugs started have reached billions of pesos in value, he said.
“I can only shudder at the harm that those drugs could have caused had they reached the streets … throughout the country,” said Duterte.
“This is why the illegal drugs war will not be sidelined,” he stressed. “Instead, it will be as relentless and chilling, if you will, as on the day it began.”
Protests that human rights advocates stage against the antidrug crackdown, which has led to the deaths of thousands of suspected drug dealers and users, do not discourage him, Duterte said.
“If you think that I can be dissuaded from continuing this fight because of your demonstrations, your protests – which I find, by the way, misdirected – then you got it all wrong,” he said.
Young lives are wasted and families destroyed by “the chemicals called shabu, cocaine, cannabis, and heroine,” said the chief executive. “Your concern is human rights, mine is human lives.”
Duterte also said corruption must stop, comparing the practice to “a leech [that] bleeds the government of funds” and “saps the morale of dedicated and honest government workers.”
In addition, the President ordered agencies with the most number of red tape-related complaints from the public to “make your services truly customer-friendly.”
“Our people deserve efficient, effective and responsive government services. They deserve nothing less. Kayo lang ang ayaw e. Gusto ng tao kayo iyong binabayaran, make your living from the pockets of the people, and you have a lousy and corrupt bureaucracy,” he said.
Meanwhile, Duterte thanked Congress for the passage of the Ease of Doing Business Act.
“(The law) is a significant fight against corruption and improving service delivery. We need to sustain our momentum,” he said. “I hereby direct all local government units – makinig sana kayo – and government agencies to faithfully implement this law and simply simplify the process.”/PN
