Duterte warns new ‘drug lord’ in Western Visayas: Patay rin ‘yan

President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to kill the alleged successor of slain Iloilo City Mayor Melvin Odicta in the illegal drug trade in Western Visayas.

In a speech at the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan campaign rally in Bacolod City, Duterte claimed he already knows the identity of the "new drug lord" in the region but did not reveal it to the public yet.

"Sinong naghahawak dito? Bakit maraming ugok dito noon? Odicta. Sinong nagpalit? Huwag ko munang sabihin, patayin rin ‘yan. Ah, sigurado," the president said.

Odicta was killed in 2016 with his wife after being linked to illegal drug operations in Iloilo.

The president also mentioned other officials who he said were involved in the illegal drug trade, such as former Iloilo City mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog; slain Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog who was killed in a deadly police raid that killed 15 people; and slain Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinosa Jr. who was killed 2016 in a reported shootout inside his jail cell.

"Eh alam mo, dumaan ako pagka-prosecutor. At minsan killer rin ako. Eh p***** i** kung gusto mong ganun, talagang hihiritan kita," Duterte said.

"Not only now na… Lahat, Mayor Parojinog… Tapos nagtanong ‘yung Mabilog na ‘yan. Tinanong niya si Bong [Go]. 'Bong, galit ba si Mayor sa akin?' Sagot ko kay Bong, 'Sabihin mo sa p***** i** niya, siya ang isunod ko,'" he added.

Mabilog has earlier denied Duterte's accusations against him.

Duterte lamented that, after he became President, he was "fighting his own government."

"Sarili ko, gobyerno ko kalaban ko," he said.

"Kung gusto ninyo, patayan tayo. Espinosa, wala akong pakialam namatay ka sa loob o sa labas ng kulungan. Papatayin pa rin… Parojinog, pati pulis niya pinapatay ‘pag ayaw sumunod sa kanya," he added. — MDM, GMA News