DUTERTE TO NPA, MILF, MNLF: HELP FIGHT TERRORISTS

President Duterte has appealed to Moro separatists and communist rebels to join the government’s fight against terrorists linked to the Islamic State (IS) group.

With fears growing that IS is seeking a presence in the country, Mr. Duterte offered to pay and even house fighters from groups that have long opposed the government if they would work to defeat a common enemy, the Maute group.

The President said the idea of militias and soldiers fighting together had come from the leader of one of the Moro separatist groups.

Maute terrorists have pledged allegiance to IS and have been battling government troops since laying siege to Marawi City on May 23.

During a visit on Saturday to an Army base on Jolo island, where government forces are fighting another Islamist group, the Abu Sayyaf, Mr. Duterte said he would treat communist and separatist guerrillas the same as government troops if they joined his fight against terrorists.

“I will hire you as soldiers—same pay, same privileges and I will build houses for you in some areas,” the President said.

President taunts NPA

He made the offer to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

He also asked the communist New People’s Army (NPA) to abandon its protracted guerrilla war and work with the government.

“To all the NPA rebels listening, abandon the cause you’ve been waging for years. It didn’t do anything good except bring suffering to our people. They have never succeeded in occupying a single barangay here,” he told soldiers at Camp Teodulfo Bautista in Jolo, Sulu.

“Maute is better; they’re able to hold [an area] for days. You NPA rebels, you did nothing. Don’t be fooled by them. They’re getting a lot from taxation,” he added.

“You keep on extorting. I am going to create a new division for you. No qualifications required since you know how to fire guns,” he continued.

The military seemed not to mind teaming up with known enemies of the government to take down the Maute group.

Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr., spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said the President had early on made such a call and now he was “just encouraging our brothers on the other side who we are in talks with to join forces with the government and align with the people.”

The military was using attack helicopters, artillery and ground troops on Sunday to try to take back Marawi, where Maute terrorists are putting up heavy resistance.

The MILF and MNLF have waged a separatist rebellion since the late 1960s and have signed separate peace deals with the government, but those agreements have yet to be fully implemented.

Peace talks

Mr. Duterte’s offer to the communist rebels comes after his government canceled the latest round of peace talks with the NPA’s political arm, accusing the rebels of planning more attacks.

“If this drags on, and you want to join, take your chance with the Republic,” he said.

There were no immediate reaction from leaders of the groups to the President’s offer.

Mr. Duterte said the founder of the MNLF, Nur Misuari, had sent him a letter volunteering his men to join the battle in Marawi and other parts of Lanao del Sur province.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella told reporters that Mr. Duterte’s call came after he accepted Misuari’s offer.