‘If I go to hell, I’ll kick out Satan’

MANILA, Philippines - After shrugging off the prospect of facing a United Nations court to account for his deadly anti-drug campaign, President Duterte said he’s not afraid even of eternal damnation and is ready to kick out Satan and take his place in hell.

“It’s not easy to take human life but I am sorry,” Duterte told delegates of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) at Malacañang Wednesday night.

“Pero kung mapunta ako ng impyerno, hindi ako magpa-lugi. Hindi naman talaga ako ’yung – napasubo lang. Eh papuntahin mo ako impyerno. Unang sipain ko Satanas, umalis ka diyan. May bagong tigas dito (If I go to hell, I will not let myself get pushed around; I just got into this. If I go to hell, I’ll kick Satan out and tell him, ‘go away I’m the new toughie here)’,” he said.

In a briefing with The STAR editors and reporters last Wednesday, Duterte said he is not afraid to face the UN to explain the killings and alleged violations of human rights spawned by his administration’s stepped up drive against illegal drugs.

In the PPCRV event, Duterte discussed the ill-effects of illegal drugs, especially on the Filipino family. He cited as an example the case of a friend who sought his help in dealing with his drug addict son who got his own sister pregnant after raping her. Duterte said his friend’s addict son later killed the baby. 

The Chief Executive said his friend’s family did not file criminal charges against the errant member to avoid public scandal.

The drug problem, he said, has reached all sectors of society, from the poor to the most affluent and influential. He said his list of prominent people linked to drugs includes a governor and a son of a congressman.

Duterte said he is determined to destroy what he called the “apparatus” of illegal drugs in the country, downplaying criticism that law enforcers were focusing only on poor offenders and have not arrested, much less killed, a drug lord.

He stressed there’s no way he can stamp out the drug menace “as long as the apparatus is there.”

“I am sorry. Wrong – it is fundamentally wrong. Is it the only way up to this time? Yes, I’m sorry,” he told his PPRCV guests, apparently to justify the way his anti-drug campaign was unfolding.

He claimed the tentacles of the drug cartels in Mexico and China have reached the Philippines.

Probe needed

At the Senate, Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he is now open to having the extrajudicial killings investigated – as pushed by Sen. Leila de Lima – if only to address the high number of vigilante killings.

He said he felt alarmed by a report given to him by an officer of the Philippine National Police (PNP) showing 600 vigilante killings recorded in the month of July alone.

Lacson did not name the officer but described him as someone knowledgeable and with the authority to discuss relevant statistics.

According to the police officer, the 600 count does not include those killed in police operations.

In his earlier interviews, Lacson said he was not keen on having deadly police operations investigated, citing the presumption of regularity in the law enforcers’ discharge of their duties.

“If only for vigilante killings, I think that’s proper. There is a necessity to look into (it),” Lacson said at a forum held at the Senate yesterday. 

He said he wants to know straight from the PNP its policy on vigilante killings. “Has it become a policy now to just turn a blind eye to the vigilante killings? We want to find out what the police are doing about this,” he said.

“Six hundred cases in a month, 600 divided by 30, that’s a significant average per day. There’s really cause for alarm, considering that we are not hearing any solutions or even leads from the police,” he added.

Lacson, a former PNP chief, said that he has no idea if the police are even investigating the vigilante killings.

“I have yet to hear a pronouncement from the Palace and even from (PNP chief) Gen. (Ronald) Dela Rosa that they are doing something to solve those cases or to find a solution to the summary killings,” he maintained.

Meanwhile, in Bacolod City, a large tarpaulin on which the message “Thou shalt not kill” is written is now hanging in front of the San Sebastian Cathedral. The Diocese of Bacolod said they would like to deliver the message that they are strongly against extrajudicial killings of drug suspects.

In 2013, the diocese also took the tarpaulin approach to voice its opposition to the Reproductive Health Law.

Fr. Felix Pasquin, rector of the cathedral, has expressed concern over the rise of vigilantism.