President Rodrigo Roa Duterte attended a situation briefing at the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade (MIB) headquarters in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte on May 26, 2017. PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
President Duterte on Tuesday railed at extremist groups in Marawi for allowing themselves to be taken in by the foreign ideology of the Islamic State, which is now destroying the country, and said there would be no letup in the war with them.
The soldiers have to crush their rebellion, along with the illegal drug trade that has been funding the rebellion, Mr. Duterte said.
“The order is to destroy the enemy. Ang durugista, same (Same with the drug peddlers),” he said before soldiers in North Cotabato.
Soldiers have been battling it out with pro-Islamic State groups in Marawi since late last month. The military said the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups had planned to take over the city and raise the Islamic State flag there.
The conflict in Marawi, capital of Lanao del Sur, had prompted Mr. Duterte to put the whole island of Mindanao under martial law for 60 days.
According to Mr. Duterte, he was angry that foreign ideology has come in to Lanao and the Moros were killing themselves because of it.
“Use your head. Why do you allow other people to come to our country and destroy us with their ideology? We have our own. What you’re believing is foreign, that’s not yours, that came from the Middle East,” he said.
All the Islamic State wants is to kill, but he would match them, he said
“The avowed objective of the ISIS is to kill and destroy, period. Which is why I will destroy also and kill, period,” he said.
There would be no letup in the war with the extremists, he said.
“Let us finish this. You started it, you sons of b****es, let us finish it. There will be no peace talks. If it would take me 10 years to do it, I will do it if I’m still around,” he said.
Mr. Duterte told the soldiers that they were fighting a rebellion, which is war and not just a law and order situation. The stakes are high, he said.
“If we allow [them] to overcome, then this country will end something like minus the island of Mindanao. There will be breakage and we will have a problem because again, the Christians will arm themselves and make a call to revolt and it will throw our country to the dogs,” he said. JE
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