Rodrigo Roa Duterte

“ The Filipino is no stranger or neophyte to situations like the one we face today. We can, and we will, overcome as we did countless times in the past, [but] only if we work together towards a common goal.
Sad to say, despite all efforts, peace, especially in the Island of Mindanao, continues to elude us. But of course, it is not the peace of the dead but the peace of the living that we seek. Peace flits away like a butterfly when you try to snatch it by the wings. And our pursuit of peace continues.
The red insurgency has been with us for decades; the Muslim issue, for centuries. ”

“ I applaud Congress for the timely passage of the TRAIN law. You have made funds available to build better roads and bridges, and improve health and education, and strengthen our safety and security. Some have incorrectly blamed our efforts toward a fairer tax system for all the price increases in the past months, and some irresponsibly suggesting to stop TRAIN’s implementation. We cannot and should not. We need this for sustainable growth that leaves no Filipino left behind.
TRAIN is already helping poor families and senior citizens cope up with rising prices. ”

“ Let me now — just to everybody — everybody in the Middle East, I would like to tell them that not only Filipinos but all human beings, the kafala has no place there because it’s a setup for slavery. Either you correct it or we will ask our workers, Filipino workers, to go home.
Sabi ko bahala na kung mahirap lang kami dito, okay lang. We will try our very best to make up for what they have lost, what they will lose in the process. But we will never allow them to be slaves. ”

“ In Davao, you cannot see a person there walking with a cigarette. Foreigners, they are very... they can argue with you, they says my money, not your money. Well then okay, eat your money or I will shoot your balls.
Investing in the health sector is never a cost to be endured but an opportunity to be explored.
If we have to embrace the vision of a prosperous Philippines, we have to start putting value to our people’s well-being – because the success of every Filipino’s pursuit to life, liberty and happiness directly mirrors the fulfilment of our aspirations as a Filipino. ”

“ Together, we shall fight this pandemic with the same fervor as our campaign against illegal drugs, criminality, insurgency, and corruption in high places and entrenched parochial interests.
As a government worker, I am addressing each and every Filipino that the government cannot do this without your help. More than ever, we need to reinvigorate the deep-seated Filipino spirit of pakisama and malasakit within each and everyone of us.
We are being --- we are being tested, as a people and as a nation. Worse times loom ahead. ”

“ To the mining industry, I say this once again and maybe for the last time, do not destroy the environment or compromise our resources; repair what you have mismanaged. Try to change [your] management radically because this time you will have restrictive policies. The prohibition of open pit mining is one. [applause] It is destroying my country. It is destroying the environment. It will destroy the world of tomorrow for our children. [applause]
Again, I warn irresponsible miners, along with their patrons, to stop destroying our watersheds, recharge areas, forests, and aquatic resources. ”

“ While we were busy instituting reforms, the twin ogres of illegal drugs and corruption laid low for a while only to resurface us — still with us, and make no mistake about it corruption is but another term for stealing people’s money, dashing, in its wake, a nation’s goals and aspirations. ”

“ I am confident that the Filipino people will stand behind us as we introduce this new fundamental law that will not only strengthen our democratic institutions, but will also create an environment where every Filipino—regardless of social status, religion, or ideology – will have an equal opportunity to grow and create a future that he or she can proudly bequeath to the succeeding generations. ”

“ The people of Marawi need help. Caught in the crossfire between government troops and Muslim extremists, they have been through hell and we need to help them rise and move forward.
If we cannot provide for the poor and the needy who are many, then we will not be able to keep from harm the rich who are few.
At the vanguard of our struggle for peace and order are our Armed Forces and Police. They are the silent heroes who risk their lives everyday for our country’s security. ”

“ We launched an unprecedented war against the illegal drugs and to destroy their apparatus that permeated every level and sector of society. We waged war on the manufacturers, the financiers, the suppliers, the peddlers, and the entire syndicates and, more importantly, their protectors in government. We have rescued and reformed drug dependents because of their idiotic sense of decency by [launching] interventions and building facilities not only for their rehabilitation, but also to prepare them to reintegrate into society. ”

“ We issued last year Executive Order No. 100 establishing the Diversity and Inclusion Program as a national program of the Government. We want to end the discrimination of persons on the basis of age, disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, and other character traits.
My administration always believed that freedom from illegal drugs, terrorism, corruption and criminality, is itself a [human right] .
Part of our efforts to uphold human rights is protection of the rights of children and the right against discrimination. ”

“ We need to pry corruption from government corpus which is deeply embedded and we also need to put an end to squabbles and bickerings with an agencies focused truly on speedy provision of quality public services to our people.
Believe me, it is easier to build from scratch than to dismantle the rotten and rebuild upon its rubbles.
Nevertheless, let us work together and lay a new foundation upon which a better Philippines can be reconstructed. Help me build a better tomorrow. ”

“ Time and again, I have stressed that corruption must stop. [applause] Corruption is like a leech that it bleeds the government of funds programmed for its infrastructure and other social development projects. ”

“ My faith in the Filipino innate patience, resilience and determination to bounce back is unwavering. Let us share our blessings with those who have little and those who have none. This is the time to bring out the best in us. ”

“ What exactly is the state of the nation today in the light of the pandemic which has paralyzed business activities and crippled even the strongest of the world’s economies? So where do we go from here? ”

“ We admire our Filipino migrant workers for their selflessness and courage in enduring the hardships of living away from home to provide for their families. You epitomize the innate resilience of the nation. ”

“ Let me say that the strength of a nation rests in the hands of the people acting as one with government, in the pursuit of common goals and objectives.
When the pandemic struck, I decided to prioritize life over other considerations. According to experts, the interventions that the government had put in place prevented as much as 1.3 to 3.5 million infections. To me, even if the numbers were much lower, it would still be and would have been worth the sacrifice [s] we made. “Buhay muna, bago ang lahat.” [applause]
We initially encountered difficulties ramping up our testing capacity. ”

“ When you go into an anger, when you burst with rage, okay ‘yan. But with so many killings as brutal and as cruel as what happened, if you add human rights and due process, you stink and your mouth smells. ”

“ Finally, I would like to reiterate my call for Congress again to pass legislation to establish a single agency that shall focus on and respond quickly to the needs and concerns of our OFWs. I pray that our next leaders and our future generations will not squander our natural resources and fight for the integrity of our environment, in a manner fiercer and more effective than my administration had ever done.
The pandemic has taken so much from us as a nation but like [all] other adversities that tested us time and again, it can never take [away] our courage and resilience. ”

“ Owning safe, decent and affordable housing is every Filipino’s dream. But the housing market remains inaccessible to most of our countrymen.
I renew my call for Congress to pass the National Housing Development bill and the Rental Housing Subsidy bill. These will enable all Filipinos—regardless of social status—to live in decent homes where their families can lead meaningful lives. ”

“ It saps the morale or the morale of dedicated and honest government workers.
Corruption destroys those who succumb to its temptation and eventually it is the innocent who will suffer and bear its horrible consequences.
The love of money is corrosive. And sadly, the desire to make the easy kind by being imaginative and manipulative, corrupts absolutely. Stolen wealth does not make the thief respectable. ”

“ I will not allow the ruin of the youth, the disintegration of families and the retrogression of communities, forced by criminals whose greed for money is as insatiable as it is devoid of moral purpose. ”

“ Due to the brilliant programs and excellent work of our economic managers and the extraordinary cooperation between the executive and the legislative branches of government, our economy, with investor confidence, was poised to leapfrog into the company of the world’s fastest growing economies until the COVID-19 pandemic stalled everything. ”

“ I have nothing against America, I have nothing against China but if you put bases here, you will double the spectacle of a most destructive thing just like Manila during the Second World War --- during the retaking of this city. ”

“ We owe it to our fallen soldiers and police officers in Marawi and elsewhere to put an end to the bloodshed and seek the path of true peace—a peace that will last beyond this lifetime, and whose dividends our children will reap. ”

“ So much time has lapsed, so many lives have been lost and so much destruction has been wrought but peace eludes us still. Sometimes I am almost tempted to conclude that peace might not be able to come during our lifetime. ”

“ Our health workers and other frontliners who risked their own safety [applause] to keep our essential health services and our food supply chain running, [boost] economic activity, and ensure peace and order in our communities.
I would like also to extend my deepest appreciation for the generosity of the private sector who came to the government’s aid in fighting COVID-19. [applause] I am profoundly thankful for your sustained assistance to our fellow Filipinos, [applause] amidst the same deleterious effect of the pandemic to your respective industries. ”

“ We need their zeal, their self-reliance, their capacity for work, their devotion to service, their ability to lose themselves in the common cause of building a nation.”
If we allow greed, self-interest and ambition to rule us, then as stated by one prominent physician, we will “be left with nothing better than the lesser evil instead of the greater good.” ”

“ Neither do I intend to preside over the destruction of the Filipino youth by being timid and tentative in my decisions and actions. [applause]
To the critics against this fight, your efforts will be better spent if you use the influence, moral authority and ascendancy of your organizations over your respective sectors to educate the people on the evils of illegal drugs instead of condemning the authorities and unjustly blaming for every killing that bloodies this country.
But don’t get me wrong. I value human life the way I value mine. ”