Duterte hits recycling of seized drugs

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 08:28:17 +0000

PRESIDENT Duterte

President Duterte did not mince words about policemen who alleg­edly recycle and sell confiscated il­legal drugs, saying they should be killed.

The President has slammed the alleged pilferage of seized illegal drugs in the government’s anti-drug operations during a speech in Malacañang.

“Totoo ‘yang corruption sa droga. ‘Yang recycle sinasabi lagi. Hindi – p***** i** patayin mo talaga lahat ng pulis na crooked,” he said dur­ing the oath-taking of new govern­ment officials at the Palace.

Duterte, in a later interview with reporters, admitted that the pilfer­age of confiscated drugs involving cops was prevalent but the govern­ment is hard-pressed to resolve the problem.

He explained that he could not simply fire errant cops, saying they must face an investigation as part of due process. “Well I have to have evidence, kaya nga sabi ko sundan na lang muna ninyo,” he said.

He admitted that some cops tend to report the seizure of 10 ki­lograms of illegal drugs instead of the actual 20 kilos, and sell these illegal drugs back to the market.

“Tapos may award pa yan sila. Tapos yung iba irecycle. Ipagbili nila, marami yan. And it’s so prev­alent, even the present set up of government hindi mo makuha ito. You know you cannot just fire him for due process, right to be heard, investigation. Talo talaga ang gobyerno sa totoo lang,” he said.

“With so many restrictions, un­der the bill of rights since this is a democracy, hanggang diyan lang talaga tayo,” he added.

Duterte, however, pledged that his administration would strive to reduce the country’s drug prob­lem before the end of term.