PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Friday only he and then President Ferdinand Marcos cared much for the country’s soldiers, as he renewed his promise to give a comfortable life for troops who have been on the frontlines of the government’s war against terrorists and communist insurgents.
“There were only two presidents, only two, who paid attention to the needs of soldiers. The two are me and Marcos,” Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and English in his speech in Camp Teodulfo Bautista in Jolo, Sulu.
Duterte is a known friend of the Marcoses. Duterte’s father Vicente served in the Marcos Cabinet before the declaration of martial law in 1972, which he lifted in January 1981.
Marcos, a former soldier and who fought as a guerrilla during the second world war, had a strong grip on the military until his government was toppled by a Catholic Church-backed revolt in 1986, on the week he was proclaimed by the Commission on Elections and the Batasang Pambansa as the winner in the 1986 snap elections in February.
Duterte has repeatedly promised to improve living conditions of soldiers by increasing their pay and providing proper health care for those maimed while fighting government enemies.
“I have told you, if you have a problem. I give you my number. If you cannot solve your problem here or you cannot solve it, just call me,” he told the troops before him.
In a related development in Manila, Malacañang said Friday soldiers would have no choice but “to shoot” or “be shot” by armed members of the communist New People’s Army, as it defended President Rodrigo Duterte’s “shoot-kill” orders to security forces.
“No armed NPA will surrender to authorities. The options are to shoot at an armed rebel or for our men in uniform to be shot at by them,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a text message to reporters.
Some administration critics, including Vice President Leni Robredo, had voiced concern over the President’s order to shoot armed NPAs, saying that was against the law and the constitution.
Robredo stressed there were processes to determine if the charges were true, and to mete out appropriate penalties.
Roque, however, stressed the NPA was an armed fighter who remained to be a “valid military target” engaged in armed rebellion which is a crime.”
In a speech in Sual, Pangasinan, on Wednesday, Duterte said government troops should “shoot” and “kill” members of the Communist Party of the Philippines’ armed wing, the New People’s Army, whom he earlier tagged as “terrorists.”
He said he didn’t mind if there would be condemnation from human rights groups, saying he would claim responsibility for their actions.
Meanwhile, two more insurgents were killed and dozens believed to have wounded in two separate clashes between New People’s Army rebels and government troops in the Visayas and Mindanao Friday as the government increased its hunt for communist terrorist.
Military reports said the renewed fighting with the NPAs occurred at the outskirts of Sarangani and Leyte province as ground troops increased their pressure against lawless elements.
The first clash in Sitio Balataan, Barangay Pag-asa, Alabel, Sarangani occurred when army troops from the 73rd Infantry Battalion responded to the reported presence of the armed group extorting and intimidating residents.
Maj. Gen. Noel Clement said soldiers were immediately dispatched to the area to validate the veracity of the report.
While the troops were approaching, they were fired upon by the rebels, prompting them to retaliate. killing two rebels in an ensuing fight, the military said.
Clement said the government suffered no casualties during the clash while the rebels sustained more wounded comrades as evidence of blood stains on their retreat route.
He said the rebels left behind five high-powered firearms, personal belongings and several war materiel at the scene of fighting.
“We are saddened of (sic) the news that another victim of the wrong propaganda died…we’re calling on the members of the NPA to lay down their arms, surrender and avail (themselves of) the Comprehensive Local Integration Program,” Clement said.
“They will be given a chance to live with their families peacefully. Likewise, we are always ready to assist the wounded terrorist who need immediate medical attention,” Clement added.
The killing of two more rebels brings to 17 the number of cadres felled in the government’s renewed but intense pursuit against the NPAs.
Last Tuesday, 15 rebels, including five amazons, including one Josephine Anne Lapira, a student of College of Arts and Sciences of the University of the Philippines in Manila, were killed in what the military described as a gunbattle. With John Paolo Bencito, Francisco Tuyay
