Shoot yourself rather than surrender, Rody tells soldiers

Use the last bullet on yourself and die as a patriot.

This was President Duterte’s advice to the troops of the Western Command in Puerto Princesa, Palawan when he met them yesterday.

“Do not surrender to the enemy. As much as this could be a dreadful task to you, do not give the enemy the opportunity to mistreat you. They will only use you as target practice, you will be treated like a pig only to be executed,” he said.

Duterte made the statement as he gave 30,000 Glock pistols to the troops.

He said they could use these side arms to defend themselves in areas controlled by the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

Speaking before the troops during his visit to the Western Command, Duterte told them to just kill themselves with the pistols rather than be subjected to torture and humiliation by the enemy.

He advised the troops to reserve the last round “for emergency use.”

“I ordered 30,000 of the sidearms, I will give them all to you. On the last bullet, put the pistol to your head and tell the enemy ‘f**k you.’ At least you die with dignity,” Duterte said.

He reminded the soldiers that death would eventually catch up with everyone.

“If it is your time, it’s your time. If it is my time, then that’s it… it’s my time. That’s our destiny,” he said.

The President told the soldiers to bring their side arms at all times, lamenting how off duty soldiers and policemen were killed and mutilated by communist rebels in February.

“I remind you to bring firearms whenever you go out of camp. You will find yourself defenseless without it,” he said.

In the same speech, Duterte again expressed his anger at how the NPA rebels repeatedly shot unarmed soldiers during an attack last February, which prompted him to lift the government ceasefire and suspend the peace talks.

Hopes

The government and the communist rebels agreed on a joint interim ceasefire on Wednesday in the Netherlands, according to government peace panel adviser Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan.

“This is a major breakthrough. This could lead to a comprehensive ceasefire agreement which will pave the way for a just and lasting peace in our country,” Pamintuan said.

Pamintuan, who was among the signatories to the agreement as adviser of the government panel, explained the ceasefire guidelines and ground rules would be formulated by the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF) in a Joint Ceasefire Committee to oversee the temporary cessation of hostilities.

The NDF is the umbrella organization representing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the NPA in the peace talks with the government.

“The agreement directed the said committee to meet, even in-between formal talks, to discuss, formulate and finalize the guidelines,” Pamintuan said.

He said talks would resume in May with the hope of fasttracking the agreements on substantial issues on social and economic reforms, and political and constitutional reforms.

Malacañang, for its part, is hoping that the signing of the interim joint ceasefire agreement will result in lesser attacks from the communist rebels.

“We hope this prevents further hostilities and unnecessary loss of lives on the ground,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.

While in Palawan, Duterte welcomed the development.

“So, there will be less problem from the NPA. There will be a cessation of hostilities again,” he said.

Duterte also reminded chief peace government negotiator Silvestre Bello III to ensure that his pre-conditions are met by the CPP-NDF.

He said Bello was tasked to make sure that the CPPNPA-NDF will comply with his preconditions before formally resuming the peace talks.

Duterte said he wanted the communist rebels to stop collecting revolutionary taxes and stop claiming some areas in the country under their control and influence.

“Third is that I want a guarantee in writing and fourth is that they must release all soldiers and policemen in captivity, including some civilians and barangay leaders. If there are none of these, then I do not want the talks to proceed,” Duterte said.

“If they are met, then we will talk again,” he added.

He also extended his offer anew to CPP founding chairman Jose Maria Sison to come home.