SINGAPORE: Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday (Dec 16) addressed thousands of his fellow Filipinos who turned up to welcome him during his visit to Singapore.
During his speech, Duterte slammed critics of his controversial war on drugs and said: “If you are into drugs … I will kill you”.
Addressing human rights concerns about the number of killings in his anti-drugs clampdown – three-quarters of which are estimated to have been part of police counter-narcotics operations – he added: “If you were police, why would you wrap a body up and put a cardboard [sic] on it? Just shoot them.”
Duterte again repeated his call for US President Barack Obama to “go to hell”, and slammed a US decision to withhold humanitarian aid to his country.
“I am like a dog on a leash,” he said of the Philippine-US relationship. “You lived off the fat of my land,” he added, addressing Americans. “Do not bull**** me.”
He rounded off his address by thanking Filipinos in Singapore “from the bottom of my heart for contributing to the economy”, and urged them to stand up for their rights.
“Merry Christmas, and be assertive of your rights.”
Filipinos wait in line to take a free shirt home after the event with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. (Photo: Xabryna Kek)
Free shirts from the event with Philippine President Duterte. (Photo: Xabryna Kek)
Organised by the Philippine Embassy, registration for the event held at Singapore Expo had to close early after demand surpassed the venue’s maximum capacity of 6,000 people.
The crowd began gathering at the venue as early as 8am for the event.
Duterte’s visit to Singapore is his first since he took office in June after a landslide election victory.
