URGING the Filipino people to rally behind President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and describing the Dutertes and the POGOs as internal threats, former Senator Leila de Lima said Filipinos should wake up and be aware of what is really happening inside the country.

In an interview with Fact First, De Lima said it is high time to veer away from insurgencies saying the focus must be redirected to the real enemy and the greater threat that the country is facing as she pointed out that the external threat is obviously China.

“Mahina na na ang NPA. At alam natin na wala ng ganuon na kakayahan ang NPA sa ating bansa,” said De Lima adding that the approach of President Marcos Jr and the way he is handling this issue is right and timely by refocusing his priorities to the West Philippine Sea amid China’s aggression.

“Tama si PBBM to assert our sovereign rights dito sa China. Filipinos should rally behind President Marcos Jr. The President is asking all of us to be prepared for external threat which is China.

And we all know that the internal threat is not the insurgencies which are a thing of the past. The internal threat that the country is facing now are the Dutertes and the POGOs na konektado din sa China, ” De Lima said.

De Lima described POGOs like a reverse opium war which are being used by China to control and destroy the Philippines for their own gain.

“It is highly possible that POGOs will install a Manchurian candidate. It is not impossible that they will corrupt our public officials and bastardize our legal system and undermine our rule of law.

This is war. They want to destroy our social order. Pag nasira ang Pilipinas, mas mako control tayo ng China– ang goal ay kontrolin ang ating political, social, judicial system. This is war,” De Lima added.

She likened POGO to the ‘Opium War’ in the past which was the tactic used against China by their colonizers.

“Remember the opium war? They disrupted the social order in China. This is opium war in reverse. Ginamit ito ng mga colonial powers to conquer them in the past. We are in the reverse situation now where China is using POGO to corrode and weaken our capacity as a country and a social nation. We should be wary. China wants to weaken our social fabric so they can destroy us and control us easily,” De Lima noted.

“Ang mindset nila, pera pera lang ang gagamitin nila sa atin. Ang Pogos parang jueteng yan. It corrupts public officials. Gayundin ang drugs. Karamihan ng drug lords ay from Mainland China.

Ang POGO talagang ginagamit yan sa atin at nakakabahala dahil sa social cost. It weakens our social order at pag nasira na nila tayo, then kontrolado na. This is their goal. Palaganapin ang drugs, ang POGOs, kontrolin ang social, legal, political system through corruption,” she said.

De Lima also described the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea as a very important factor why China is using all kinds of tactics to destroy our people and the whole nation.

“The South China Sea is a major trade route for the US, for Japan, South Korea, the Philippine and other international countries where fifty percent of the world trade passes. The end game of China is to control the world and the total domination. For as long as the US remains a super power, mahihirapan sila. So nakaabang lang ang China. Naghahantay lang sila ng time na humina ang US. Kaya tama lahat ng ginagawa ni PBBM. China is the external threat,” she said.

De Lima did not elaborate further on the Dutertes but maintained that these factors are interconnected with each other.

“In terms of asserting our sovereign right, PBBM is really doing what is right. Yung ginagawa ng China na pinapaalam sa buong mundo. In terms of asserting our rights, ginagawa ni PBBM yan.

Tama naman si Marcos Jr. urging us to prepare for external threats. Dapat nga nuon pa natin ginagawa yan nuong pinaalis pa lamang natin ang mga bases dito sa PIlipinas,” De Lima said.

Both internal and external threats in the country right now are all connected to China and to the Dutertes which De Lima said is because of the WPS and not the New Peoples’ Army.

“Real theat is yung POGOs na yan, extremism in the South and yung mga Dutertes na yan na mga maingay at nanawagan sa ouster ni PBBM, nanawagan ng seccession sa Mindanao, na siyang talagang at real internal threats ng bansa. But we also have to prepare for external threat. Both internal and external. We have to prepare. At malinaw ang posisyon ni PBBM diyan,” De Lima said.

She suggested repealing the law legalizing POGO through taxes that gives them the legality to operate in the country.

“Tama ang ginagawa ng mga senador natin kagaya ni Sen.Sherwin Gatchalian na alisin ang legalidad ng POGO. Marami ng justification na dapat ng mawala ang POGO dahil mas marami ang perwisyo na dinudulot nito sa bansa,” she stressed.