MEDIA INTERVIEW OF PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE FOLLOWING THE CONFERMENT OF THE ORDER OF NATIONAL SCIENTIST ON DR. EMIL Q. JAVIER

[Rizal Hall, Malacañan Palace, Manila | 07 January 2020]

Q: Sir, good afternoon. Good afternoon. Happy New Year. Sir, can we have a few more details po doon sa sinabi sa amin ni Secretary Panelo kanina na meron na pong bagong kontrata for the water concessionaires?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: No, there is no contract. What we are ready to give to the parties, the distributors, is a draft which we would like to be enforced instead of the old one, which we think is not good for the Filipino.

Q: Sir, draft po? When are we —

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Draft lang po.

Q: Draft pa lang po. So when are we going to finalize it and give it to the companies, sir.

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Well, I’m sure that one of the — one or two of the Cabinet, I cannot mention their names, are working at it.

Q: Sir, last question on this subject. If they do not accept, sir, ‘yung…

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: That’s not my problem. I said that is not my problem. I have this draft, it’s either you accept it or not. You do not accept it? Then there is no contract.

For after all, as I have said right at the beginning when I saw the contract, I said this document is null and void from the beginning because it has so many provisions that would infringe into the penal laws of the Philippines, particularly the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

Q: Sir, what will happen now to water distribution if they do not accept?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Well — then I will have to operate the distribution system.

It’s either they accept with no guarantee that they will not be prosecuted or if they do not accept it then I will nationalize the water system and prosecute them for plunder or estafa on a large scale.

Q: Sir, do you have a timeframe for the — for the companies to decide?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: No. I am not hurrying them up. But I am not paying anything. Forget… If I were the distributors, forget about that 7 million arbitral award.

I am not going to pay any — anything, not single cent. Wala namang value siguro ‘yang centavos, pero wala silang makuha sa akin.

Q: Mr. President, also on the presscon of Secretary Salvador Panelo may binanggit po siya na you have a message daw po to Iranian government regarding po sa mga OFWs natin sa bansang Iran?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Well, I have sent Secretary Mamao. He is a Maranao. He is my… He’s a Cabinet member. He’s my fraternity brother. I trust him.

I’ve sent him to both Tehran and in Baghdad, if he can make it, to talk to the leaders about the plight of the Filipino workers. That is all there is to it.

Just to get the assurance that my countrymen will have the egress just in case hell breaks loose in that — Middle East.

Q: Opo. Mr. President may we also clarify that you have mentioned last night daw that kung masasaktan ang — may masasaktang mga OFWs sa bansang Iran, you might be siding with America. Is it true?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: No, I would not like it. I — just a projection. I might send more than just a special envoy to do the talking.

Kung may masaktan, then we’ll just have to move physically not only verbal. What it would consist of, I cannot, as of now, tell you. But we have asked the Department of the Defense to study on how they would make their way out. And I have asked also the Department of Finance to reserve a certain amount for that exigency if it ever comes.

Q: Opo. So clarification lang po the statement that you will be siding with any nation kung may masasaktan po sa mga Filipino natin —

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Yes.

Q: ­­­­­­— is not accurate?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Well, I suppose that there are so many… It’s a multiracial ‘yang nandiyan eh — workers and all. Arabs of different persuasion both in — mga Sunni, Shiite and you have the workers and you have the Americans there stationed.

I hope that they would do everything to assure the safety — that no Filipino gets hurt. Because kung sabi mo may masaktan o may mga casualty, then I would not like it. Then I have to rethink my position.

Q: Mr. President, what’s your opinion on Vice President Leni Robredo calling your drug campaign a failure?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Wow. She has been there how many days? Seventeen?

Q: Eighteen.

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Eighteen days. You know, I hate to say this but how many voters are there in the Philippines?

And you just do away with the 200,000 plus that she got as a majority over Marcos. It was really a mistake. With a slim margin and you talk big.

You know, for all of these years she has done nothing. She is a colossal blunder. Colossal blunder. Blunder.

Q: What about her recommendations, Mr. President, for example to transfer the chairmanship of ICAD to Dangerous Drugs Board? Sinabi po niya ‘yon sa press conference.

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Saan ko ilipat?

Q: From PDEA ilipat po sa Dangerous Drugs Board ‘yung chairmanship po ng ICAD. Are you in favor of that?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: If ever, kung sakali lang, kung maging presidente siya, gawain niya ‘yan.

She does not lecture on me. I do not have the slightest — you know. As a lawyer lecturing on me, well, she should revisit her record I suggest.

Q: Mayor?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Ma’am.

Q: In case po mag-escalate ‘yung violence sa Middle East —

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: ‘Yan ang masakit kung… Ngayon ma’am — diyan ako hindi nakatulog talaga. Totoo lang. I was trying to…

Well, I was with two others and we were trying to shoot the breeze last night. Natulog ako siguro mga alas — alas-singko na, alas-sais.

We were drinking coffee and just discussing how we would do it. Just… Well, the plan is of the military. We’re just reviewing it.

So there’s a Plan A, Plan B, and the worst scenario case. Puputok talaga. And they begin using high explosives.

Q: I-invoke po ba o i-enforce natin ‘yung provisions ng Enhanced Defense Cooperation?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: No, it applies only sa Philippines if there is an attack. And besides, the Armed Forces of the United States must get the permission from the… It’s not automatic.

Q: Sir, is — there is a provision that would allow US troops to go to agreed locations in the Philippines in case kailangan nila ng stage point or jumping-off point going to other areas?

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: A transit?

Q: Opo, sir, pag-gas ganyan.

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: Well, they have the bases. We will continue to… There’s Visiting — Visiting —

Q: — Forces Agreement.

PRESIDENT DUTERTE: — Forces Agreement. We will continue to respect it in transit.

But to use the Philippines as a launching pad for — to fly the missiles and the rockets, I do not think