Duterte won’t pull out PH vessels in disputed sea
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said he would not order the withdrawal of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea despite the lingering presence of Chinese vessels in the disputed waters.
Duterte made the statement in reaction to incursions by nearly 300 Chinese militia vessels in the area.
“We have a stand here, and I want to state it here and now again that ‘yung mga barko natin nandiyan ngayon sa Pag-asa [Island] at saan pa, we will not move an inch backward (We have made a stand, and I want to state it here now again that we will not move our vessels in Pag-asa
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has warned the terrorist group Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) to stop oppressing civilians or face full-force retaliation from the military.
“And I just give a warning, and I mean it. Because next time around, I do not think that I will be in a position to withdraw my [order], Duterte said in a prerecorded speech aired over state-run PTV-4 on Thursday night.
The President, fresh from visiting Jolo and Cotabato City, lamented that the BIFF and other extremist groups “continue to plunder, look for trouble and inflict violence upon the poor” in Mindanao.
“Civilians are always on the losing end whenever there’s war, a revolution — the sum of it all, the children, women and the elderly are the ones who suffer the most — and even those who do not want war and only want to live in peace on this planet,” Duterte said.
In his visit to Maguindanao on Tuesday, the President accused the BIFF of “full-blown terrorism.”
“The monkey wrench of the whole situation now is the BIFF, and they continue inflicting damage not only with small attacks, but they conduct arson, ambushes, bombings. It’s full-blown terrorism,” Duterte said.
“Now, I’m pleading for your help because otherwise, as I’ve said, if I give the order for an allout offensive, it will be bloody and it will be sad,” Duterte told an assembly of Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) leaders attended by military and police officers.
The BIFF is a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, whose former leaders now head the BARMM.
BIFF members occupied a public market in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao last weekend but eventually fled after a brief clash with government troops.
Duterte, saying he loves both Muslims and Christians, reiterated his appeal for peace.
“I don’t want to kill Muslims; I don’t want to kill Christians. I want to live quietly in this world. You know, we only live once,” the President said.