‘Extremists target Westerners’

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday warned that extremists usually targeted “Westerners” in the Philippines given the country’s history of being colonized by the West for more than 300 years.

The President made the remarks at the Subaraw Biodiversity Festival, an occasion celebrating Puerto Princesa City’s Subterranean River.

Colonization

“These extremists… Be on your guard because there are many whites here. They are looking for them. They kidnap them. They really hate Westerners,” he said.

The President pointed out that the colonization of the Philippines and other nations by Western countries was often the reason for the killings.

“The difficult thing about Westerners, Britain occupied Malaysia, the Dutch occupied Indonesia. The Spaniards occupied my country. And in the process of those 300 years, they killed many, especially Moros,” he said.

He added: “They lost lives, they lost lands. So that is territorial.”

The President said extremists saw nothing wrong with killing to avenge those who died during the colonization by Western countries. —Julie M. Aurelio