Bully against ‘enemies of the state’

President Rody Duterte on Monday said he would be a bully in dealing with “enemies of the state, ” among them communists, terrorists and fools fighting his administration.

“They said I’m a bully. You’re all fools. I am really a bully, son of a bitch. I am really a bully, especially to the enemies of the state,” he said.

Well, it’s time the enemies of the state shouldn’t be the bully.

President Duterte said he would not talk to communist insurgents making unreasonable demands in peace talks while at the same time attacking his security convoy and civilians.

He said leftist protesters outside the Batasang Pambansa complex where he delivered his more than two-hour expletive-laden State of the Nation Address (Sona) were better off going home.

He said Communist Party of the Philippines founder Jose Maria Sison is an old man sick with colon cancer, something Sison has denied.

The ambush of his security convoy week by suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels in Arakan, North Cotabato probably got the president’s goat.

But he faced the protesters after his Sona. He told them, “Why will you do that to me? Who will talk to you on the resumption of peace talks, my ghost? If you see me as your enemy, then there is no more reason for us to talk.”

He also said his security convoy’s vehicles were armored so no one was harmed. “Wa seguro sila kahibalo nakasibat na ko,” he said in jest.

He also vowed to pursue peace up to the end of his term, but he lamented the siege in Marawi City, which Islamic State-allied terrorists seized, forcing him to declare martial law in Mindanao.

He also said the war against illegal drugs will continue. “I have resolved that no matter how long it takes, the fight against illegal drugs will continue,” he said.

To the drug dealers, he said, “I will hound you to the gates of hell.”