Saying his first job as President is to bring peace in the
country, President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday reiterated his intention to reach
out to the enemies of the state particularly the Communist Party of the
Philippines (CPP) and the Moro rebels in Mindanao .
”It is not a war to be fought forever. We cannot fight
forever. We might have the weapons, the armaments, and the bullets, mortars,
but that does not make a nation,” President Duterte said in his speech during
the change of command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Camp Aguinaldo
in Quezon City
”The first job of a president is not to go to war but rather
to bring peace to his land. My job is to talk to the enemies of the state,” he
said.
President Duterte was referring to the CPP and the two
rebels groups in Mindanao -- the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
”Even before I was already proclaimed but before assumption
of office, I was busy going around Mindanao
and talking to a lot of people to bring about peace in our land. Started with
the left and with the NPAs (New People’s Army), and we got a favorable answer
from the leaders, including Jose Maria Sison,” the President said.
President Duterte said he is set to talk next week with MILF
chair Murad Ebrahim and vice chair Ghadzali Jaafar and might travel later to
Jolo, Sulu to sit down and talk with MNLF leader Nur Misuari whom he called his
friend.
For the kidnap-for-ransom Abu Sayyaf Group, President
Duterte said the ASG is closely connected with the issue of Mindanao
but “we cannot be whipping boys of the few who wants nothing but maybe money
and power in their hands.”
”You know, the truth is, we can only take so much. I am not
warning Abu Sayyaf but I said there will always be a time for reckoning,” he
said.
While he is reaching out to the rebel groups to achieve
peace, President Duterte said he would continue to wage war against criminals,
drug traffickers and corrupt officials.
He warned the drug lords who continued to operate even behind
bars at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa to stop their illegal activities.
”You know there is always a time for everything. There’s
always a time for you to make money and make a mockery out of our laws. There’s
always a time for you to be in control even if you are inside the prison. But
there is always a time to rest and to die. Ganoon ang buhay (That is life). As
you are born, there’s also death,” he added.
President Duterte asked the AFP to help him put a stop to
criminality and illegal drugs.
”In the final days of the campaign at Luneta, I gave this
statement and I said I will put at stake my honor, my life and the presidency,”
the President said.
”I told you criminals, all of you: If you destroy my
country, I will kill you. If you destroy our children, I will kill you. If I am
asked by anybody, including the Commission on Human Rights, I do not know you,”
he added, drawing applause from the audience that includes Vice President Leni
Robredo.
If he could bring peace and unity in the country, Duterte
said: “I can retire happy and I can look back and say that I did my duty in
nation building.”
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=900558
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