Speech of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte during the 120th Founding Anniversary of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) and Groundbreaking Ceremony of the new PSG Station Hospital
PSG Grandstand, Malacañang Park, Manila
28 June 2017

[Commander of the troops, would you give the order of tikas pahinga?]

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana; Secretary Pauly Jean Ubial of the Department of Health; the National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon; the Presidential Adviser for Military Affairs Lieutenant General Arthur Tabaquero; the PSG Group Commander General Lope Dagoy; awardees of the anniversary today of the Presidential Security Group; the officers and enlisted personnel, civilian employees of the PSG; mga kababayan ko.

I have a prepared speech, always there is. Two pages. It is not enough really to acknowledge your services to the country.

I am… Your life is no less important than mine. Pare-pareho lang tayo. And your role in this government is pare-pareho lang, not less important also [than] mine.

And we value our lives, but there’s always the possibility na lahat naman tayo, either one way or the other, we face danger and death is — always looms in the horizon.

But you know, there is always a time to live and a time to die. How do you die? It’s God’s call, hindi atin. You may get to live until your retirement days or I may die early.

As a matter of fact sa… Wala namang kalbo sa pamilya naming pero I began to lose my hair at the back. Ang laki na ng patch dito. Tiningnan ko ‘yung mga kapatid ko, pinsan ko, wala sila. We all have the…

Pero sa kakakamot ko, kasi hindi ka man magkamot sa harap, dito sa likod naubos. At night, I grapple especially when I read the briefer and how many soldiers I have lost for the day.

More than anybody else, ako ‘yung naghihinakit. I really wallow in sorrow because ako ang nag-utos na pumunta diyan at makipag-away kayo. That is the moral burden that I carry all day and all night, sa totoo lang.

Kaya sasabihin ko sa inyo na may problema rin tayong isa because there is a pretender to the throne, assuming that I die within maybe tomorrow, next year, or next month.

There are two claimants to the presidency. Ang isa, nag-organize na at he has claimed that he has deposed me, presidential candidate Amato — si Pamatong. Sabi niya, nag-takeover na siya.

Eh ngayon, nandiyan si Leni. Baka magkamali kayo ng kampo ha. Dito tayo sa Constitution. There is a successor there.

Kaya you should be worried about my life a few days ago, comatose na raw ako. Wrong spelling lang po ‘yun ng media, it’s really “kama”.

If I am not around and you do not see me, siguradong nasa kama ako. Kung ano ang ginagawa ninyo — o ako pala, tayo, wala akong — wala silang pakialam.

Ganito ‘yan eh. I chose to ignore the piece of paper, speech, kasi gusto ko lang to impress upon you the importance of this war.

Every generation, meron talagang insanity. In Europe, a lot of upheavals at ang pumasok na, which killed millions of innocent human being was the Nazis, si Adolf Hitler.

From a simple idea, it has sparked the insanity of a country and a generation. And they killed innocent men, women, and children and even those without arms to defend themselves, [mercilessly] slaughtered.

Itong panahon natin, this came about because of the designs of imperialism. I have to be frank with you. Ganyan talaga ang nangyari.

In the old days, the Middle East was occupied by the Western powers. And they partitioned the entire Middle East, kanya-kanya, Germany, Italy, ‘yung Libya, ganyan. Then the British conquered itong Saudi Arabia. And they lived off on the fat of the land.

So yumaman sila, maganda ang industrialization nila nauna sila sa lahat. Sila ang yumaman, sila ang — enjoy the good life, leaving ‘yung may mga may-ari ng lupa and what was really inside or downwards the oil.

Dito sa atin, we were conquered by the Spaniards for 400 years. And we were occupied by the Americans for 50 years. Nang itong arbitrary na sa Africa, they divided the whole of the Middle East, kanya-kanyang teritoryo.

So they continued to exploit the countries, enslave actually the mga leaders ng — foisted by them, not by the people. And tried to introduce to Western ‘yung election parliament.

Alam mo, I do not claim to be a scholar but I happened to be a descendant also.

Dito sa Muslim world, hindi talaga pwede ‘yan. It’s the Qur’an. And frankly, as a grandson of a Maranao woman, I’m telling you that ang Muslim society is fundamentally feudal. Hindi mo talaga maalis ‘yan.

At kaya ‘yung mga partition-partition nila— America invaded Iraq on the pretext of the existence of mass destruction and there was none at all, and try to undermine Syria and Libya.

‘Yung mga sundalo ni Saddam, ni Gaddafi, at ‘yung mga sa Syria na lumaban kay Assad, there were a lot of dissension.

At nakita ‘nong mga bata na sundalo, hindi ‘yung matanda, hindi ‘yung mga generals nila. And these were the common enlisted men, mga sarhento, they realized that they were being brutalized and robbed off of their — na walang makikita nila kung sinong mag-takeover, sinong manalo dito, the exploitation will continue.

So na-radicalize. They become radicalized and extremism was — came into existence.

Kaya ito namang isa ngayon, the insanity here is that ang resbak nila for the exploitation sa imperialism was really extremism at ang philosophy nila, it is not… You know, Islam does not kill an innocent person. I will tell you that.

The Catholics, the Christians, do not do it for nothing and even Judaism. Life is always sacred.

Itong ideology ng ISIS is really an ideology of brutality and cruelty. Walang ginawa kung hindi magpatay pati magsira.

They do not have any objective at all but God or for the good of mankind. At ang sabi ko na sa inyo…

As a matter of fact, I remember during the first command conference ‘nong Presidente ako, and your officers will tell you that, I said that, “We have a serious problem about drugs. It is overflowing in the country. Marami ang mga aliens, pati ang locals.”

At sabi ko, “But there is a bigger problem.” And I think that because of the mass production of shabu in many parts of Mindanao, be it in Davao del Norte, Cotabato, Cagayan, Buldon. Sabi ko, “Hindi na ito por consumo kay consumo lang…” Ang tao, he can only sniff too much.

Ito, it was really funding and that is why hard hit was the Visayas. I had an occasion to say it in public that it was the Iloilo who was the bedrock of — kasi doon dinadaan eh then spread to the Visayas. Then it involved the mayors and the gangster. And mga may kaso pa sila ngayon, hanggang ngayon.

But let me tell you frankly: I will not allow even at the risk of losing the presidency, I will not allow any soldier or policeman to go to prison for destroying the drug industry in this country.

Sabi ko na noon noong mayor ako, “Huwag mong sirain ang bayan ko kasi papatayin kita.” When I became President, I said, “Huwag mong sirain ang Pilipinas o ang mga anak namin. P****** i** ninyo, papatayin ko talaga kayo.”

Mag-prangkahan na lang tayo diyan at gagawain ko talaga ‘yan. ‘Yung ayaw talagang huminto, ay anak ka ng — talagang hihiritan ko kayo. And for those who are facing charges, they can be very sure that they will walk out free men. Wala kayong problema basta diyan.

On terrorism. Well, they are not members of the Geneva Convention. They are just plain bandits, gangsters, and what they really want is just to kill. And if you want to destroy us, we will also destroy you.

We cannot be just sitting on our a** and looking at our countrymen being massacred, be it the Moro of Mindanao or the Christians. Hindi talaga tayo papayag ng ganon. Kasi those sufferings really include the Moro, the Maranao and the Christians there.

And if we allow that conflagration to spill out, that’s the danger. They can go to Lanao del Norte. I am referring to the extremists — ISIS. I am not calling the Moro.

Magpunta sila sa Zamboanga. Because there are Moro everywhere and they contaminate; and we will have, I said, a fire in Mindanao. That is why I declared in anticipation because I cannot do it on the last minute.

Eh ‘yung mga hindi nakatikim ng responsibilidad na ’yun, they just think that you would limit it there.

And how about those who has escaped? [Hapilon] is said to be bruited as somewhere… And he sets up again an organization and burns a town, burns the city. Kaya ina-anticipate ko na ‘yun pati ‘yung palabas nila sa Mindanao.

If they begin to congregate somewhere else and if the intelligence people would say to me na there is a group there a brewing, then I will maybe declare a suspension of the writ of habeas corpus. So that kaya ko na lang without declaring martial law. Pick-up na lang ako nang pick-up.

Kasi ganon talaga. It’s a very sad thing. It’s almost arbitrary. There is no warrant needed, warrant of arrest or search warrant, they will simply pick you up.

And my orders to you is that if he carries a gun, he is not a soldier, he is not a policeman, just kill him. That is my order because they will kill us. Wala silang patawad na Geneva Convention na kagaya ng NPA.

Mabuti pa itong redeeming factor itong minsan mga NPA kay POW pa ang tawag nila. Ang galing.

Ilang beses na ako umakyat, kayong taga-Mindanao, how many times did I go to the mountains to talk to them? But they make sense sometimes. Sometimes only. Hindi sa lahat ng panahon.

Pero ito wala eh. Kaya huwag ninyong buhayin ‘yan. As long as there is no indication of surrender or raising of the hands, huwag ninyong buhayin ‘yan kasi they will fight another day.

My order is, “If you destroy my country, I will destroy you. Be it drugs or terrorism.” Otherwise, inutil ako na pulis at ‘pag hindi ko kaya, mag-resign na lang ako.

Ibigay ko na lang kay Pamatong kasi baka kaya niya. Sabagay, I don’t know how he would do it but baka barilin siya ni Robredo.

Walang may gusto na pumatay ng tao. Ako naman, I am not really sabihin mo na anghel o — pero I would not hesitate to destroy a life that threatens the youth of the land. Gawain mong g*** lahat? You flood this country with drugs and we produce a nation of inutile?

Sino pa ang mag-sundalo? Sino pa ang maging gobernador? Puro katok? And then you would just weaken the country. And by the time… At the end of the day that this country collapses, who gets the blame? Ako, kayo, na wala tayong ginawa.

Hindi na bale sabihin nila, “Duterte killer.” Eh lahat naman killer eh. Sino bang hindi? When you are threatened, that is self-preservation.

Constitution na sige sila daldal ng Constitution, that’s nothing to me actually. Tayo, ikaw, we’re sworn into the Armed Forces, me into the presidency by simply saying that — by not so many words, “that I will preserve and defend the Filipino people”. Period. Wala na ’yang ano pang sabihin, martial law, martial law.

That is the long and short of our duty. Wala na ‘yang papel, papel. Any crisis, I do not… Do not give me that piece of paper. It doesn’t mean anything to me at all. Mas mabuti ‘yang mag…

Let us be very clear on this. Sabi ko, “I will not.” You just go ahead and do your — whatever is ordered. I will see you through and assure you, you will be a free man.

We will face charges, minsan massacre. Alam mo ‘yang bala, lusot nang lusot ‘yan eh. Isang putok ng — isang squeeze ng Armalite, the burst is about three, four. You keep on pressing it, it can kill everybody behind.

‘Yung mga disgrasya na ‘yan, hindi na sinasadya. Do not hesitate to kill just because there are civilians there. It is the duty of the civilians to flee or seek cover.

Kasi pagka giyera, giyera talaga ‘yan, either it’s you… That’s why I said, “I grieve”. Gusto kong pumunta ng Marawi. I think I’ll go there on Friday.

It’s about too late in the day to be hesitating to go there. I will go there and… Eh ‘di kung walang swerte, eh ‘di uwi ako dito cargo rin, C-130. Tutal may Bise Presidente naman, ano ba naman problema natin?

But you know, I cannot just sit on my a** diyan sa opisina ko na hirap ‘yung tao doon. And for the many weeks that you did not see me, alam ninyo na pumupunta ako ng brigade, ng kampo, lahat pinuntahan ko, almost all divisions. I just wanted to make sure that the morale of the troops are high.

This is I will assure you: I’m getting pissed off with this gobyerno na ‘to. Alam mo, Presidente ako, about three months, kasama ko si General Esperon pati si General Lorenzana.

Pumunta ako ng AFP. Nagtaka ako, walang MRI, walang — merong CT scan na luma. Right there and then because Diokno was beside me, ‘yung Budget Secretary, so I said, “Meron ba tayong pera?”

I gave 500 — 500 million rather that night. At saka lahat ng kampo, binista ko — generator, CT scan — ibinigay ko na agad, 30 million sa Cagayan — CT scan. Would you believe it hanggang ngayon hindi pa nabili? Kaya you prepare a backstop there. Linyahin natin ‘yan sila diyan, i-firing squad natin. P***** i**.

You know, I have been insisting on this baric thing because — it’s a high-pressure chamber, the one that itong mga divers they use when they suffer the bends, ilagay ka diyan, it can arrest gangrene.

Iyong mga sundalo na hindi na-extricate ng dalawa, tatlong araw, gangrene sets in. But with the timely intervention of the new technology, treatment, nakukuha pa. Ang problema kung maputol kasi, paa o kamay. It’s gangrene that is the kalaban natin diyan ‘pag hindi ka patay.

Hanggang ngayon wala kaya sabi ko kay Secretary Ubial, I want it 60 days. I want it 60 days, pati ‘yung ospital ninyo by December.[applause] You will get all these equipment, lahat.

Sa Jolo, may bago na. And I would like to mention Ramon Ang. He also donated many of the equipment. I think he’s going to give an MRI. Ako ang magbigay ng CT scan.

Ang Cagayan ninyo, kumpleto na. I left 30 million plus 17? Sabi ko, I want… Alam mo kasi itong p****… ‘Pag natalo sa bidding, magdemanda ang walang-hiya. May bidding na, may protesta na naman ngayon.

Kaya sabi ko, patayin mo na ‘yung nagprotesta para tapos na. Tapos kung sino ‘yung kumita diyan, eh ‘di kanya na, siya na ang magbayad kung paano niya patayin.

Sabi ko… Kasi ang style nito ganito itong mga walang-hiya na ito eh. ‘Pag natalo ‘yan, marami kasing pagador. ‘Pag natalo siya, mag-file siya ng kaso injunction. So the courts will stop it. So hindi matuloy kasi may kaso kay overpriced.

If there is a bidding, and ang COA nakita nila, it’s approved or nothing is wrong there. I do not want COA to find out a fault one year after. Do not do that. Sasabihin ko na sa COA ngayon, huwag ninyong gagawin ‘yan. Masyadong pahirapan na ‘yan.

At tsaka for the courts, especially, I would like to address myself to the Court of Appeals, to the court of lahat ng korte: Do not make it a habit to issue injunctions lalo na ‘yang mga proyekto ng gobyerno. Magkagulo tayo diyan. Why? Sabihin ko dito sa mga tao ko Executive department, huwag kayong maniwala diyan sa p****** i**** ‘yan. L****.

‘Yan ang nakakaano diyan eh. If there is a bidding and it is good, everybody is present, tapos pag-award na, mag-file ng kaso. Ito namang mga judges, mga u***, magbibigay ng TRO.

Ay judge, masipa kita sa opisina mo. Sa totoo lang. Do not do that because that could promote corruption.

Alam mo bakit? Sabihin niya, “Oh sige, i-withdraw ko ‘yang kaso mo, bigyan mo akong kaunti.” It’s being done.

Hindi ako, I’ve been 23 years mayor. One term congressman, naging vice mayor. Alam ko itong gobyerno na…

Kaya diyan ako galit especially ‘yang mga TRO-TRO, walang ano diyan except to delay, tapos ‘yung equipment hindi madala.

Pardon me for taking much of your time. I asked your — the group, si group na let’s have a subdued — no music, no nothing because in deference to mga kasama natin sa gobyerno, lalo ang mga kasama ninyo na itong araw na ito, meron ring mamamatay.

Let us just celebrate it quietly while the war is going on. Sabi ko, it’s not good to be merrymaking in face of sadness lalo na sa mga pamilya nila.

But let me assure you, ‘yung sabi ko na there will be a 50-million trust fund for you na makukuha ninyo, matutuloy ‘yun. Ah 50 billion trust fund. Meron na sana akong nakuha na 20… [applause]

Pinagyayabang ko na sa kanila. Sabi ko, “May 20 na ako”. Ayaw ko lang sabihin kung anong transaction. Payag na si Dominguez. “O, sige”.

Sabi ko, “Okay na ako diyan”. Bayad. Eh nangyari ito ngayon sa ano… So the fund might be compromised.

But anyway, do not worry. I still have… In the fullness of God’s time, kung buhayin niya ako, pero kung mahulog ‘yung eroplano ko, wala. Balik tayo sa square one.

But you will have the — in my time, ‘yung pangako ko sa inyo. At tsaka lahat kailangan ninyo. Lahat ng equipment. Lahat ng medisina. Lahat. Pati…

Pwede kayong magdala ng asawa ‘pag ka — ibang asawa ‘pag sa ibang… Pwede kayong magbaon, ibang asawa okay lang. Walang kaso. All forgiven. Huwag mo lang paanakan, g*** ka. Mahirap ‘yan.

No, I’m just joking. Tingnan mo media aatakihin na naman ako niyan. [laughter] Bakit masama bang mag-dalawa ng asawa? Maski sabihin mong hindi, mag-dalawang asawa naman talaga itong mga buang na ito. Sus, ako pa.

Anyway, let me… Let’s share your grief this afternoon. I’m very sorry that this has to happen. I do not like it, but I had to because that is my Constitutional duty. I would be violating the law if I allow this country to go to the dogs.

I know that you are suffering also, and I too, I said, more than anybody else, ako ‘yung… Kaya lang sometimes I get off just a few days. Huwag kayong maniwala na comatose ako.

Si Tatad man siguro ang nagsabi. Iyong si Tatad ang dapat kailangan mag-baric kasi hanggang ngayon ‘yung tuli niya na-infect, hindi pa gumaling hanggang ngayon. [laughter] T*** i**** taong ‘yan, g***.

And congratulations sa anniversary ninyo. And I assure you of my loyalty to you and the best of the service that I can give you.

Maraming salamat po. [applause]

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