Bato explains Rody kill order vs Abus

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa defended President Duterte’s directive to shoot and kill Abu Sayyaf bandits even if it could also harm their hostages, saying it was not the President’s intention.

Dela Rosa said the President is determined to end the problem of the Abu Sayyaf, which is involved in kidnap-for-ransom incidents mostly victimizing foreigners in Mindanao.

“Those statements of the President are just to emphasize that he wants to end this problem. He wants to bomb these terrorists, so if there are collateral damage, sorry,” Dela Rosa said in Filipino and English.

He said that armed clashes sometimes have collateral damage that are not intentional.

Dela Rosa said the number of kidnapping victims of the Abu Sayyaf continues to increase since some people insist on going to rebel-infested areas.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines ( AFP), however, clarified that the military would pursue the Abu Sayyaf but would keep in mind that it should still minimize the loss of lives.

Reacting to President Duterte’s order for soldiers to bomb the enemy even if hostages might become collateral damage, AFP spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said it is still up to the military how to carry out its operations.

“You know in the application of force, in order to accomplish the mission, sometimes it cannot be avoided that there will be a certain level of damage,” he said.

“For example, if you are ordered to attack and seize a facility, it is up to us to apply what we learned as men in the service in seizing that objective and applying whatever force is necessary to seize that objective,” he explained.

Padilla said this is the reason why soldiers and the police go through a hard process of training and readiness so that they can discharge their functions properly “at the least cost of life.”

He said President Duterte’s pronouncements are strong and aggressive because such are his traits as a former mayor of Davao City and a pure Bisaya.

Padilla said President Duterte’s pronouncements are operational orders that he has given to the AFP, which the military treats as guidance and takes seriously.

“But in the implementation of those guidance, we apply our skills and our operational art, it’s an operational art,” he said. –