The President asks Mindanaoans to avoid extremism 'because it will destroy all of us'
MINDANAO'S MAN. President Rodrigo Duterte believes extremism could tear the country apart. File photo by Karl Norman Alonzo/PPD
The first Mindanaoan president appealed to Muslims in Mindanao not to fall for the siren's song of extremism, despite the many unresolved problems in the Philippines' southern island.
"I’m asking you now, resist extremism, kasi magkagulo tayo (because there will be chaos). Hindi ko na ma-control 'yan (I can't control that)," President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday, February 24, during the launch of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC).
The BTC is tasked with crafting a new basic law for the creation of an autonomous Bangsamoro region, a measure Duterte believes is the key to attaining peace in Mindanao.
He warned Muslims in the region, whom he referred to as Moros, about the indoctrination of extremism by terror group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). (READ: Duterte: ISIS followers radicalizing Filipinos in Mindanao)
"They are now attempting to try to inject the IS, that's bad. That is why also we must avoid extremism or even entertain it or accomodating them because it will destroy all of us. This will be a country torn apart," he said.
While religion is good, Duterte differentiated extremists from those who are only religious by citing their penchant for wanton violence. Duterte is the first Philippine president to speak of the presence of ISIS in the country.
"They are driven by insanity. They kill people for nothing, burning women because they do not want to have sex with them, throwing a child into a burning bakery oven and just simply killing people," he said.
To avoid the "bloodbath" that extremists could bring to Mindanao, Duterte appealed to Moros to be forgiving, in spite of all the historical injustice done to their people.
"Let us avoid extremism. Huwag natin sundin 'yung mga Arabo kasi tayo Malay (Let us not follow the Arabs because we are Malay). The Malayans [have] always a forgiving heart," he said.
He assured Muslims of Mindanao that he is a "man in a hurry," determined to "fast-track" the creation of a Bangsamoro region.
He reminded them of his affinity for the region and his roots that bind him to their people.
"Where else can you find a President whose grandmother is a Maranao? I am from here and I know the agony we have gone through, the Christian Filipinos and the lumads. We must have peace at all cost," he said.
If the BTC is able to craft a law in 3 to 4 years, and if it receives Congress' nod, Duterte promised to ensure that it would be implemented.
http://www.rappler.com/nation/162476-duterte-muslims-mindanao-resist-extremism
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