Duterte warns: ‘I’m about to do something drastic’
Credit to Author: CATHERINE S. VALENTE, TMT| Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2019 13:36:10 +0000
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday warned that he may do “something drastic” to ensure law and order in the country, following the spate of killings in Negros Oriental.
“I will explain in the coming days. But I’m about to do something drastic. It will not sit well with everybody, maybe including you, but it is needed,” Duterte said in his speech during the anniversary of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Pasay City.
“Negros, naubos na ‘yung bagong elected. Tignan ninyo sa record. Ang pinakamaraming namatay sa atin, barangay captain. Kapag nandoon ka sa kabila patay ka. And we don’t have the army, we don’t have the armed forces na nasa likuran nila, pirmi,” he added.
(The elected in Negros have been decimated. Look at the record. Majority of the dead are barangay captains. If you belong to the other side, you’re dead. And we don’t have the armed forces who will be behind us always.)
Duterte then offered to arm BFP personnel so they could help keep peace and order in their respective communities.
“You have to help in the maintenance of law and order. Do not limit yourself diyan sa ano (there). Kulang nga tayo ng tao (We lack people),” the President said.
“You are not limited to just fire. You have to go around and help the policeman and the military. Isang senyas lang naman kayo, magkakaalaman na kayo (You only need one signal, and you should be able to understand each other). You must help. And you must help kill the enemy kasi ang enemy ninyo papatayin talaga kayo (because your enemy will kill you),” he said.
Duterte’s statement came a day after his spokesman, Salvador Panelo, bared the President’s plan to declare martial law in Negros Oriental over the spate of killings in the province.
Four policemen were killed and tortured by alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) on July 18 in Ayungon town. The incident was followed by a spate of killings on the island.
In his Thursday’s speech, Duterte said the government forces would continue to hunt down the NPA, including its sparrow unit.
“So I’m warning everybody including the Sparrows na (that) the Angels, ang tawag ko sa Sparrow ko (that’s what I call my Sparrow), will also be looking for you. Ganoon ang ano, ang mga anghel ng gobyerno (Those are the angels of government). Hindi pwede iyan (That can’t be),” he said.
On Wednesday, the President raised the reward money to P5 million for the capture, dead or alive, of the killers of the Negros policemen, and to P100,000 for every participant in the killing.
Duterte, according to Panelo, also said that the NPA in Negros had gone overboard and that its killings have become brazen and unbridled to include men in uniform, as well as civilians who were murdered with impunity.
“The President will obey the constitutional command to serve and protect the Filipino people at any cost, and to fiercely save the Republic from imminent ruin,” Panelo said.
“The President vows to replicate the atrocious acts done by the communist rebels to the civilians, the barangay officials, and the law enforcers against these murderers in defense of our countrymen,” he added.