President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, November 22, stood by his allegation against a still unnamed presidential candidate whom he said was a cocaine user.

“Totoo yan (It’s true). There is a candidate who was using cocaine, and you can ask yung mga mayaman (the rich),” said Duterte as he addressed a crowd during his visit to inspect airport expansion and seaport development projects in Tambler and Makar, General Santos.

Responding to criticisms that his allegations backfired on his bloody “war on drugs,” Duterte said, “You have no idea about the rich.”

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“Sabihin ng pulis bakit hindi natin hinuli? Bakit hindi mo hinuli, president? Hindi mo alam ang mga mayaman. They go on a yacht, yate, or in the air… doon yan sila magsupsup ng ano nila,” said Duterte.

(They ask why the police did not arrest? ‘Why did you not arrest them, President?’ You don’t know the rich. They go in the yacht or in the air… there they would snort their stuff.)

He said it was up to people to believe him or not, but they can find out for themselves whether he was telling the truth or lying.

“Ako, di ako nagaano, pero kung maniwala kayo, total marami man mayaman na matanong ninyo, tanungin ninyo. Then, if you do not believe it, we’ll leave it that way. Basta sinabi ko. Let it not be said later on that I did not tell you,” he said.

(I’m telling the truth. You can ask many rich people. If you don’t believe it, we’ll leave it that way. But I already told you. Let it not be said later on that I did not tell you.)

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– Rappler.com

Rommel Rebollido is a Mindanao-based journalist and an awardee of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship