Sulu authorities prepare for visit of Duterte

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Sulu civilian and military officials prepared on Friday for the arrival of President Rodrigo Duterte who is set to visit here.

Brig. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the commander the Joint Task Group Sulu, said they had expected the President to arrive around 4 p.m.

He said Duterte was scheduled to talk to the troops and will also meet local government executives and other officials in a closed-door meeting.

“He will inform them about the shift of (anti-terror) efforts from Marawi City to Sulu,” Sobejana said by phone.

He said as part of the shift, the military had expected the return of four battalions of soldiers earlier sent to Marawi City so they could join the effort against the Abu Sayyaf.

“We need these troops for this shift and we will target the Abu Sayyaf and our effort will have similar intensity as how we have started our campaign against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu,” Sobejana said.

He said the military aimed at “neutralizing everybody, I mean the Abu Sayyaf and reduced their strength into an insignificant level so (they could not) harm and attack innocent civilians (anymore).”