Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and former President Rodrigo Duterte were reunited in Davao City on Wednesday and renewed calls for the government to continue the campaign against illegal drugs in the country.
“Paalala sa lahat, lalo na sa pulis, ituloy ang laban sa droga. Medyo bumabalik nang konti,” Cayetano, who was the foreign affairs secretary under the Duterte administration, said to the former President.
Duterte agreed and said the police need to be assured that the government has their back when it comes to enforcing the law.
“Kailangan lang ng concrete and very strong statement coming from the Executive that he will protect you when you do right and he will crush you if you do it wrong,” Duterte told Cayetano, who was also his running mate in the 2016 national elections.
“Dalawa lang naman ‘yan: tama o mali. Mamili kayo. (Kung) doon kayo sa mali, madisgrasya kayo. Dito sa tama, maligaya kayong lahat. Ako po’y hindi na Presidente, pero gayunpaman, nagwa-warning ako sa inyo,” he added, addressing the police.
Early this year, Cayetano called on the administration to continue the campaign against illegal drugs amid fears that some high-ranking officials in the Philippine National Police (PNP) have links to the drug trade.
Cayetano made the statement in response to the call made by Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. for all police colonels and generals to submit their courtesy resignation to cleanse their ranks of connections to illegal drugs.
Saying the issue is a cause for alarm, Cayetano had said the administration should be “uncompromising on illegal drugs” and called on the government to continue the campaign that the Duterte administration initiated in 2016.
The independent senator, who has long supported the PNP, also said he believes the PNP can be an “agent of change” in addressing the perennial drug problem in the country.
Meanwhile, Cayetano thanked Duterte for what he has done for the country and called on the public to continue praying for the former President.
“Mga kababayan, please continue your prayers and support sa ating mahal na Pangulo na nagmamahal sa ating bansa… Maraming salamat po boss sa ginawa mo sa bansa,” he said.
