Duterte admits using marijuana
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Monday admitted that he was using marijuana, an illegal substance in the Philippines, to remain awake amid his “killing” schedule during international summits.
In his speech during the awarding ceremony of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) National Organizing Council in Malacañang, Duterte lamented the hectic schedule he and other officials followed during the recently concluded Asean summit in Singapore last month.
“It’s a killing activity, and I think my age, ako hindi masyado, kasi nagmamarijuana ako eh para para magising. Sa iba hindi na kaya (It’s a killing activity and I think my age, me not so much because I take marijuana to stay awake. For others, they can’t take it,” Duterte said, without elaborating.
“You know, we start at 8:30 in the morning…and we end up almost 10, 11 (p.m). And it’s every 30 minutes…Baka akala nitong Asean Secretariat Boy Scout kami. Hindi ko kaya ‘yan (Maybe the Asean Secretariat thinks we’re Boy Scouts. I can’t take it),” he added.
During the regional summit in Singapore, Duterte missed five major events in order to take “power naps,” according to Malacañang.
This is not the first time that the President missed events while on official trips and reports on his absence from events at the Asean summit were routine.
Duterte, who is presiding over a deadly war against drugs, said he preferred discussions only on “urgent and immediate concerns” at the Asean.
“You have to give that to the TWG (technical working group) or at least on the lower echelons sa ministerial. We only take, yung pinaka importante. Yung nuances about other country, ano na yun. Only the urgent and immediate concerns of Asean. Di talaga kaya,” he said.
(We only take what’s important . . . I can’t do it.)
“Susmaryosep, walang tulog. And the more that the crescendo becomes faster, mas lalo kang di nakakatulog kasi hinahabol ka na babasahin eh, and so you do not want your President to look ignorant. So I have to catch up with the reading, wala na talagang panahon,” he said.
(Jesus, Mary, Joseph, no sleep. And the more that the crescendo becomes faster, you can’t sleep all the more because you have to catch up on a lot of reading. . . there is really no time.)
The President even complained about the food served in Asean summits, saying this has forced him to bring his favorite local food, canned beef and dried fish.
“Pangit pa ng mga ulam, susmaryosep…Nagbabaon ako ng Karne Norte pati tuyo (The food is awful, my god…I have to bring Karne Norte and dried fish),” Duterte said.
Shortly after winning the election, Duterte said in several press interviews that he was personally in favor of legalizing medical marijuana.
“Medicinal marijuana, yes, because it is really an ingredient of modern medicine” Duterte said. “There are medicines being developed, or are now in the market, that contain marijuana for medical purposes.”
Duterte, however, said he would push for stricter regulation to ensure that medicinal marijuana would be offered only to those who really need it.
He also said he was opposed to the use of marijuana as a recreational drug.
Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano 3rd in 2014 filed House Bill 4477 (Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Act), which aims to legalize the use of marijuana for medical purposes.
In 2015, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said the Church supported the use of prohibited drugs and narcotics, such as marijuana, for the terminally ill.
Doctors, on the other hand, are opposing the bill, adding that experts have yet to confirm the efficacy of medical marijuana.
In June, 2016, Albano refilled the House Bill 4477. It is now called House Bill 180 or the Philippine Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act.
Possession of at least 10 grams of marijuana resin or marijuana resin oil, or at least 500 grams of marijuana is punishable with life imprisonment and a fine ranging from P500,000 to P10 million, as stipulated in the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.
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