The rising popularity of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and his possibility of becoming the next president is creating a nightmare scenario for the illegal drug syndicates operating in the Philippines. Thus the drug cartels here are allegedly united in stopping Duterte from becoming president at all cost, for his strong stance against illegal drugs. In a report by former North Cotabato governor Emmanuel Piñol, he said that the big drug syndicates in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao have formed an alliance to “put up a united front against a Duterte presidency”.
Piñol based his report from a “raw but reliable intelligence report relayed to the Duterte camp” recently. The drug cartels are reportedly planning three strategies against Duterte. One is to “eliminate Duterte before he could even decide to run for the Presidency through assassination”. The second option is to launch a negative media campaign and black propaganda against the Davao City Mayor. The third would be the use of drug money during the campaign period and the elections to ensure the defeat of Duterte.
Piñol said Duterte was readily advised to beef up his security. The former governor said that security analysts said that while the intelligence report still has to undergo validation, a concerted effort by the drug syndicates against a Presidential prospect who could work against the drug operations in the country is highly probable. Duterte has been very vocal on his plan to eliminate all drug peddlers if ever he becomes president. For the more than two decades he was mayor of Davao City, hundreds of drug peddlers were summarily executed here that were blamed to the vigilante group Davao Death Squad.
Piñol based his report from a “raw but reliable intelligence report relayed to the Duterte camp” recently. The drug cartels are reportedly planning three strategies against Duterte. One is to “eliminate Duterte before he could even decide to run for the Presidency through assassination”. The second option is to launch a negative media campaign and black propaganda against the Davao City Mayor. The third would be the use of drug money during the campaign period and the elections to ensure the defeat of Duterte.
Piñol said Duterte was readily advised to beef up his security. The former governor said that security analysts said that while the intelligence report still has to undergo validation, a concerted effort by the drug syndicates against a Presidential prospect who could work against the drug operations in the country is highly probable. Duterte has been very vocal on his plan to eliminate all drug peddlers if ever he becomes president. For the more than two decades he was mayor of Davao City, hundreds of drug peddlers were summarily executed here that were blamed to the vigilante group Davao Death Squad.
