• Mindanao’s banana industry gets boost from Duterte
• Duterte: Drug campaign will not end

President Duterte was the guest of honor on Friday (October 7) at the National Banana Congress held at the SMX Convention Center in Davao City.

“It’s a highly competitive world today and everybody is into the business of money and that is why there is a lot of competition going on,” President Duterte said.

“Maybe, just maybe, the Philippines will make it big in the agricultural area,” he said, noting that within the span of the next 30 years, it will be a very tight competition in the new industrial sector.

President Duterte said Mindanao will be the country’s topmost source of agricultural goods.

At the said event, President Duterte also assured the banana growers that his administration is exerting efforts to address law and order in the country.

He said if law and order prevails, then it would greatly benefit the banana growers.

“The greatest problem of banana growers in the Philippines for that matter is really law and order,” Duterte said.

Duterte also noted that his administration is now talking to the CPP-NPA-NDF, as well as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

Meanwhile, President Duterte called on the Filipino people to help his administration ferret out corruption by reporting erring government officials and employees.

“Pag ‘di niyo ako tulungan wala talaga akong magawa para sa inyo. If you do not help me ferret out the bad guys. Eh di ‘wag kayong magcomplain ng corruption,” he said.

However, he warned the public not to abuse this just to get back at government personnel for personal grudges. PND

He said there will be no let-up in the administration’s campaign on the fight against illegal drugs.

“The drug campaign will not end,” Duterte said at the launch of the “Mentor Me” program of Go Negosyo in Davao City.

“I will not renege on that. There shall be no reduction in substance or in form,” he said.

President Duterte has been taking a firm stance against the elimination of illegal drugs in the country since he came into office on June 30.

He said he needs to interdict while he is still the Chief Executive to save the next generation from the proliferation of drugs that destroy relationships among family members and society.

“Somebody has to do it for the Filipino. It’s a matter of maybe destiny,” Duterte said, noting that he did not expect to be a mayor of Davao City for 23 years, let alone to be the President of the country.

“Maybe God placed you there to, precisely, to do the things that must be done to help the Filipino,” he said.

“Itong expectations, what evolved in my life were the very opposite of the things which I was really looking at into my future. So it’s a matter of destiny,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Duterte expressed his willingness to help Filipino small and medium enterprises.

“If I could get some loans, I will give you some,” Duterte said, noting that he will prioritize additional funding for education, rehabilitation, agriculture, and helping micro, small and medium scale entrepreneurs.

“If I get extra additional money outside of government sources, you’ll have a part of it,” Duterte said.

“If I can get all those things that I expect, I’m not so much into expectations. But I will look for the money. If I can get some, you’ll have the part of it. Otherwise, we wait for next year,” he added. PND