By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – (AA) – Five Philippine police generals allegedly involved in the illegal trade in drugs have been publicly identified and relieved of their positions by newly inaugurated President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte made the names public during a speech Sunday at an Air Force celebration — two of which were reported to have met with the camp of rival candidate Mar Roxas during the recent presidential elections.
The move is part of a campaign against drugs, criminality and corruption Duterte has said he will pursue since taking oath June 30. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella has said that at least 25 suspected drug lords have since been killed in gun battles across the country.
On Sunday, ABS CBN news quoted Duterte as saying that many people had long suspected police officials were involved in the trafficking of illegal drugs.
“The truth of the moment is, these people, after so many validations, even when I was still mayor of Davao City, these names were appearing,” he said.
He added that as president he is compelled by a sense of duty to name the officials “who have contributed to the deterioration of law and order in the country”.
Duterte has ordered the generals to report to the national police chief, ordered an investigation and asked the armed forces to help his administration’s “bloody fight” against those who protect drug lords and syndicates.
“It’s going to be a dirty fight. It’s going to be a bloody fight. I am not apologizing for it,” said Duterte, who prior to his presidency had reiterated his belief that the Philippines is becoming a narco-politics country destroying the future of its children.
In 2009, the dangerous drugs board estimated that there were 6.9 million drug users in the country — close to 7 percent of the country’s population.
Over the past four days, thousands of drug pushers and users have surrendered to police to sign a pledge to stop trading and using illegal drugs, while the national police has said that dozens of drug suspects were killed in police operations across the country from June 16 to 20 alone.
On Sunday, drug enforcement agency agents also seized up to 300 kilograms of methamphetamine during a raid on a farm in Northern Mindanao.
