President Rodrigo Duterte doesn’t want to see alleged drug lord and fugitive Peter Lim surrender alive.
That’s what the Philippine president said during a speech yesterday in Malacañang Palace. He also said Lim should just commit suicide.
Duterte made the gruesome advice after he signed the Universal Healthcare Act in a ceremony attended by several government officials. He said: “Peter Lim, if I were you, I would commit suicide. Never ever surrender to me alive… Shorten your life. Tie a rope around your neck.”
A Cebu-based businessman, Lim has been tagged by Duterte as a big-time drug lord with the alias “Jaguar.” CNN Philippines reported that the president said Lim was part of a Chinese triad, which the businessman denied.
According to ABS-CBN, he is suspected to be the source of shabu (methamphetamine) which were distributed in the country’s Regions 7 and 8 in the years 2013 and 2014.
In March last year, the Department of Justice exonerated Lim of drug charges, a move widely condemned by the public. According to The Philippine Daily Inquirer, the DOJ dismissed the charges after it found the evidence presented by the Philippine National Police insufficient.
By June, the DOJ ordered a reinvestigation of Lim’s case. In August, a Makati court ordered Lim arrested but he remains a fugitive until this day.
At present, the police are offering a PHP500,000 (US$9,609) bounty for Lim’s arrest.
In an interview with reporters after his speech, Duterte said the government is unsure whether Lim is still in the Philippines or has fled the country.
“But the network and the money laundering of Peter Lim is very much alive. So I’m just reiterating my warning here [that] this drug problem is a national security threat. Meaning to say, it can destroy the Philippines. And the orders are: Destroy the enemy,” Duterte said.
Duterte and Lim are actually acquaintances, having stood as co-sponsors at a wedding held in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu in 2016, GMA News reported.
Online, various netizens expressed skepticism that the government really wants to catch Lim. @Isagani_Ibarra wrote: “All you do is talk. It’s only Maria Ressa whom you can send to jail. [But] drug lords and thieves are still free!”
Journalist and Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa is facing several tax evasion charges filed by the government as well as a cyber libel case filed by a businessman.
Puro dada ka lang… Si Maria Ressa lang ang kaya mong ipakulong… yung mga druglords and mandarambong, libreng libre pa rin!
— Isagani Ibarra (@Isagani_Ibarra) February 20, 2019
@MaamSyj called Duterte “Liar 101.”
Charotero 101
— Ma’amSyj🇵🇭 (@MaamSyj) February 20, 2019
@AcidRed28 wrote: “That’s all for showing off. He’s (Lim) been gone for a long time and yet nothing has happened.”
Yabang lang yan. Tagal na nyan wala naman nangyayari.
— Acid Red, MD 赤酸 (@AcidRed28) February 20, 2019
