Duterte vows to halve crime rate – Poe still hopeful to run in Philippine polls
Philippine presidential election candidate Rodrigo Duterte and his running mate Alan Peter Cayetano said on Christmas Day that they would halve the crime rate in the country in just one year through aggressive law enforcement if they were elected.
Duterte is the presidential candidate of the Philippine Democratic Party – People’s Power, commonly known PDP-Laban in next year’s general elections. He and Cayetano issued “a warning to criminals and to the corrupt that this could be their last Christmas if they didn’t stop and change,” vowing to work to stamp out crime, illegal drug trafficking and corruption in their first year in office
“My advice to the criminals, the drug lords and the corrupt is to turn over a new leaf in their New Year’s resolutions. The moment we have Duterte as president, this will be the last happy Christmas you will celebrate,” Cayetano said, adding that “next year, the criminals will spend Christmas behind bars.”
He said that he and Duterte had worked out a plan to bring down the national crime rate by half in one year, including an aggressive national anti-crime campaign starting in identified “hot spots.” Similarly, they would combat graft and corruption among government officials.
Meanwhile, presidential hopeful Grace Poe, who has been banned by the Philippine election commission to run because it is of the opinion she was not a natural-born Filipino citizen and she did not meet the 10-year residency requirement, said she will continue to fight to be allowed as a candidate.
Poe appealed at the Supreme Court against the commission’s decision and said she was optimistic that the court will act “swiftly” on the petition against her disqualification.
“I am confident that, giving due consideration to the strong evidence, jurisprudence and pertinent principles and precepts, the justices will uphold my cause and the right of the people to a genuine choice in the elections,” she said.
In an election poll held in early December Poe slid behind Duterte, who had an approval rating of 38 per cent, to number two to 21 per cent in a tie with Vice President Jejomar Binay. Former interior minister Mar Roxas, standard bearer of President Benigno Aquino’s Liberal Party, has moved to third place with 15 per cent.
Philippine presidential election candidate Rodrigo Duterte and his running mate Alan Peter Cayetano said on Christmas Day that they would halve the crime rate in the country in just one year through aggressive law enforcement if they were elected. Duterte is the presidential candidate of the Philippine Democratic Party - People's Power, commonly known PDP-Laban in next year’s general elections. He and Cayetano issued "a warning to criminals and to the corrupt that this could be their last Christmas if they didn’t stop and change," vowing to work to stamp out crime, illegal drug trafficking and corruption in their first...
Philippine presidential election candidate Rodrigo Duterte and his running mate Alan Peter Cayetano said on Christmas Day that they would halve the crime rate in the country in just one year through aggressive law enforcement if they were elected.
Duterte is the presidential candidate of the Philippine Democratic Party – People’s Power, commonly known PDP-Laban in next year’s general elections. He and Cayetano issued “a warning to criminals and to the corrupt that this could be their last Christmas if they didn’t stop and change,” vowing to work to stamp out crime, illegal drug trafficking and corruption in their first year in office
“My advice to the criminals, the drug lords and the corrupt is to turn over a new leaf in their New Year’s resolutions. The moment we have Duterte as president, this will be the last happy Christmas you will celebrate,” Cayetano said, adding that “next year, the criminals will spend Christmas behind bars.”
He said that he and Duterte had worked out a plan to bring down the national crime rate by half in one year, including an aggressive national anti-crime campaign starting in identified “hot spots.” Similarly, they would combat graft and corruption among government officials.
Meanwhile, presidential hopeful Grace Poe, who has been banned by the Philippine election commission to run because it is of the opinion she was not a natural-born Filipino citizen and she did not meet the 10-year residency requirement, said she will continue to fight to be allowed as a candidate.
Poe appealed at the Supreme Court against the commission’s decision and said she was optimistic that the court will act “swiftly” on the petition against her disqualification.
“I am confident that, giving due consideration to the strong evidence, jurisprudence and pertinent principles and precepts, the justices will uphold my cause and the right of the people to a genuine choice in the elections,” she said.
In an election poll held in early December Poe slid behind Duterte, who had an approval rating of 38 per cent, to number two to 21 per cent in a tie with Vice President Jejomar Binay. Former interior minister Mar Roxas, standard bearer of President Benigno Aquino’s Liberal Party, has moved to third place with 15 per cent.
