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Clean up PH? Duterte can't clean own backyard: LP

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<figure class="op-social"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UvPLzQ_gWdc?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0" width="510"></iframe></figure>MANILA - The word war between the camps of presidential aspirants Mar Roxas and Rodrigo Duterte is on again, with the Liberal Party (LP) spokesman saying Duterte cannot even rid Davao City of illegal drugs let alone the entire country. In a statement, LP spokesman Barry Gutierrez refuted Duterte&#x27;s statement that Roxas did nothing to fight crime during his stint as secretary of the interior and local government. He said that in 2014, Roxas wrote to Duterte to inform him that the Philippine National Police had initiated anti-drug operations in Davao City &quot;as 72 of the 182 barangays there are seriously affected by drugs.&quot;&quot;That was in 2014. Two years have passed, drugs remain rampant in Davao. What is he talking about with his promise to rid the whole Philippines of illegal drugs in 3-6 months? He is still the Mayor of Davao, right? But he seems to have forgotten to clean his own backyard,&quot; he said, referring to Duterte&#x27;s promise to clean up criminality in six months if he is elected president. Gutierrez said authorities seized P4.83 billion worth of illegal drugs in 2014 and another P2.46 billion in 2015 when Roxas was still DILG chief. He also noted that through the PNP Lambat-Sibat, crime incidence in Metro Manila dropped to 240 incidents in the week of February 8-14 from the weekly average of 919. &quot;Without killing anyone, almost 700 Filipinos were not mugged or stolen from. So who actually did not do anything?&quot; he asked. Roxas earlier downplayed Duterte&#x27;s promise of ridding the country of crime, saying the illegal drug trade is still ongoing in Davao City. Duterte, however, fired back, saying Roxas did nothing to combat crime when he was DILG chief. Duterte earlier claimed some government operatives are plotting to set up a shabu laboratory in his city in order to discredit him in a bid to derail his presidential bid.He claimed he received intelligence reports stating that top operatives from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and other agencies have arrived in his city to build a fake shabu laboratory.

MANILA - The word war between the camps of presidential aspirants Mar Roxas and Rodrigo Duterte is on again, with an Liberal Party (LP) spokesman saying Duterte cannot even rid Davao City of illegal drugs let alone the entire country.