The President, during the Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod-Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HTL-HNP) miting de avance on San Pedro Street, Davao City on Friday, May 6, advised his youngest son with ex-wife Elizabeth Zimmerman that if he does not know how to kill, he’d better learn it fast.
“Og mayor ka, Baste, og di ka kamao mopatay, pagsugod na. Pagtuon na karong gabii (If you will be mayor, Baste, if you do not know how to kill, then start practicing tonight),” Duterte said in jest.
“Kay og ang mayor di mupatay ug mahadlok mamatay, may problema gyud mo. May problema mo. May problema ang Pilipinas. Og mobalik gyud ang droga, ambot na la’g unsaon. Kay ako, retired na gyud ko. Pero naa pa koy pipila ka adlaw, managinot pa ko [laughter] para murag baon lang ba. (Because if the mayor won’t kill and is afraid to die, you will have a big problem. The Philippines has a problem. If there will be a resurgence of drugs, I don’t know how we will handle it. I’m retired already. But I still have a few days left, I’ll do what I can),” he added.
During his stint as mayor of the city for 22 years, Duterte had been vocal on his stand against criminality.
The ex-mayor was even linked to the Davao Death Squad (DDS), a vigilante group that conducts summary executions of individuals suspected of petty crimes and drug dealing.
SunStar Davao asked the vice mayor’s reaction right after he cast his vote at the Catigan Elementary School on Monday, May 9.
The young Duterte said there is no reason for him to kill anyone.
“Ngano mupatay man ko? (Why would I kill?) I won’t do that myself. I won’t tell anyone to do that. Even to the police, it’s the same thing,” the vice mayor told members of the media.
He encouraged, though, the policemen to defend themselves if they have become threatened.
“Who wants to die? Kinsa may gusto mamatay anang naa ka sa imong trabaho? (Who wants to die in their line of job?),” the mayoralty candidate said.
“And sa tinuod lang (to be honest), I’d rather see those criminals die rather than my police men,” he added.
Meanwhile, the young Duterte said that he will improve the programs implemented by his predecessors, who are his elder sister, incumbent Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio and his father.
“Didto nako mag-navigate (I will be navigating) between the two… Kung naa mga programa or proyekto (If there are programs or projects) that the two previous mayors had been doing, maybe I will improve or augment, and if there are problems that I have to solve, then I will solve it,” the vice mayor said.
The elder Duterte served as city mayor from 1988 until 1998, and from 2001 to 2010, and 2013 to 2016. He ran and won for congress from 1998 to 2001, and as vice mayor from 2010 to 2013.
Duterte-Carpio, meanwhile, became the youngest mayor and the first woman to be elected mayor of the city from 2010 to 2013, and 2016 until June 30, 2022.
The young Duterte substituted his sister in the mayoralty race after the latter ran for vice president.
