PDut threatens to bomb Lumad schools
PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has warned of ordering the state forces to bomb Lumad schools after the indigenous people joined the anti-administration protest during his State of the Nation Address (Sona).
Duterte made the stern warning after he delivered his second Sona on Monday, July 22, as he expressed his strong opposition to prodding Lumad children in joining the rally against his administration.
The President said he would order the bombing of Lumad schools since they are functioning sans Education department’s authorization.
He said the schools were thus deemed as “operating illegally.”
“The schools of Lumads, they’re operating without the Department of Education’s permit. In their schools, they are teaching subversion, communism, and everything. So better leave. I’ll tell the Lumads now, leave because I will bomb [your schools],” Duterte said.
“I will use the armed forces, the Philippine Air Force. I will really bomb all your schools because you are operating illegally and you are teaching the children to rebel against the government. You are foolish, and so am I. Let them suffer. I will ask the police and army [so Lumads will be] back to the drawing board,” he added.
Hundreds of Lumads joined the protest action during Duterte’s Sona in hopes that their pleas, including the lifting of martial law in Mindanao, would reach him.
In an unprecedented move, Duterte faced protesters outside the Batasan Complex in Quezon City after he delivered his Sona.
The President, in his impromptu speech delivered before the militant groups, gave assurance that martial rule in strife-torn Mindanao will not last.
“On martial law, I will just have to finish something for everybody. It’s not forever. You just wait,” he told protesters.
On May 23, Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao following the siege laid by Maute terror group in Marawi City, leaving thousands of residents in the besieged city displaced.
The martial rule was extended until the end of December this year as the security forces are yet to totally wipe out all the terrorists still holed up in Marawi City.
On the sidelines of his Sona, the Commander in Chief admitted that the government troops were caught flat-footed in dealing with Maute rebels because they underestimated their capabilities.
“There was a failure of intelligence. There were tunnels. Maute was stocking explosives. We were wrong. There was a mistake in the evaluation or assessment,” he said. (SunStar Philippines)