DAVAO CITY — President Rodrigo Duterte said he had acquired “some arms” during his recent trip to Israel and Jordan but did not give details.
“May nakuha ako doon. Hindi ko sabihin kung anong nakuha kong armas,” the President said in his arrival speech at the Davao International Airport on Saturday.
[I brought something from there, but I won’t tell you what kind of arms.]
He said he would want to have precision-guided weapons he could use in his war on drugs and other operations against enemies.
But he did not say if those were the kind of weapons he had acquired from the trip.
“Part really [of the purpose of the trip] was also the welfare of overseas workers abroad and to shop for arms,” the President said. “And mind you, pagka [when] used against terrorism or extremism, binibigay na lang iyan [they just give these to you] because we have the common
enemy. Lahat ng napuntahan ko galit sa [all of the places I’ve been to are hot against] terrorism.”
He said his meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhayu and King Abdullah of Jordan included talks on identifying areas of cooperation in combating terrorism and extremism.
Duterte said precision-guided weapons, which the United States had, were the kinds he would need to finish his war on drugs.
“I’m facing a vicious drug front controlled by the Bamboo Triad, our container circuit being used [by Senalosa] to place cocaine,” he added. “If I want to end it, wala kasi akong armas gaya sa kanila [I don’t have the weapons like what they have],” he said, referring to the US.
“Kasi pag may armas akong precision-guided, matagal nang maubos ito, pati niyog at kahoy [If I only had those precision-guided weapons, everything here would be wiped out, including the coconut trees].”
The President again slammed the United Nations, the United States, and Canada in his speech – the two countries particular for refusing to sell arms to him because of widespread criticism of his war on drugs. /atm
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