Duterte to customs chief Guerrero: ‘Shoot,’ ‘kill’ drug trade participants

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President Rodrigo Duterte during a recorded public address aired on August 31 | Presidential Photo/King Rodriguez
President Rodrigo Duterte during a recorded public address aired on August 31 | Presidential Photo/King Rodriguez

President Rodrigo Duterte revealed he has told Customs commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero to “shape up” and “kill” those involved in drugs, which he said are “still flowing inside the country” through the Bureau of Customs (BOC).

Gusto ko pumatay ka diyan ng… Tutal back up-an kita, hindi ka makulong. Basta droga, barilin, patayin mo. Iyan ang usapan eh (I want you to kill, I will back you up. You won’t be jailed. If it’s drugs, shoot, kill them. That’s the agreement.),” Duterte said during a recorded public address aired on August 31.

“I approved the purchase of firearms and until now wala ka napatay ni isa? (…you have not killed a single one?) So sabi ko sa kanya (I told him), ‘shape up,’” he said.

Duterte also said he warned Guerrero about relying more on “old hands” in BOC.

“…when you are new, you are a babe in the forest and you begin to rely on people who would whisper that, ‘Sir, tutulungan ka namin dito (we will help you).’ And when they gain your confidence… you would believe that they are doing the right thing,” he said.

Duterte in a previous public address also bared that he considered replacing Guerrero as the latter took “a lot of seasons” to replace his chief of staff—who has already left the agency—whom Duterte called out for allegedly being corrupt.

A report surfaced last January that Guerrero would be replaced after Duterte supposedly offered his position to Davao City businessman William de Jesus Lima. Duterte denied the report, saying he was still satisfied with the work of Guerrero.

BOC last July said it remained committed to its mandate to protect the country’s border as it renewed its cooperation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. In 2019, BOC seized P3.59 billion worth of illegal drugs.