spot_img
27.7 C
Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Christmas message: Duterte pays tribute to Marawi defenders to

- Advertisement -

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday called on Filipinos to remember those who have suffered due to the months-long siege in Marawi City, and the people who defended the country’s sovereignty from Islamic State-inspired terrorists.

“In the midst of all merriment, let us pause and remember our countrymen who have lost their lives fighting for the integrity of our country, and for those who lost their homes and loved ones in the recent war, those who are far from their families, and those who are not as fortunate and as blessed as most of us,” Duterte said in his Christmas message.

“Let us show our true compassion and include them in our supplications during the Yuletide season,” the President added. 

Meanwhile, Duterte will continue to celebrate Christmas Day with his family at his hometown, Davao City, his second Christmas since coming to power, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Friday.

- Advertisement -

Gaya ng lahat ng mga Pilipino, kasama niya ang kanyang mga pamilya at mga mahal sa buhay at nandoon siya sa Davao [Like all Filipinos, he will be with his family and loved ones in Davao],” Roque told reporters in Malacañang.

Duterte says he wishes for “a progressive and peaceful country, and for the prosperity of our countrymen” as the entire nation celebrates the Yuletide season.

Roque said Duterte will continue to celebrate Christmas by having the traditional “noche buena” with his family and his 10 grandchildren, and will welcome supporters who usually flock to his home in Ecoland, Davao City.

“The President now has 10 grandchildren. That’s usually the basis of our unity as a nation. We all do the same thing during Christmas, spending it with your family,” Roque said.

“It has become a tradition that he receives visitors from Davao, and that there will be many visitors. He intimated to me once that no fewer than 30,000 visitors flocked to his house in Davao during Christmas, and that he makes an effort to see and greet all of them.”

Duterte will also continue his tradition of visiting cancer-stricken patients in Davao, something he has been doing even when he was still a city mayor.

“I’m sure he will still make the rounds and he did that already in Luzon. I’m not supposed to tell you this since there’s no media coverage,” Roque added.

His two in-law families–the Zimmermanns and the Avanceñas–both reside in Davao City as well.

The siege of Marawi started last May when military and police tried to serve an arrest warrant against Isnilon Hapilon, then regarded as the emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia. 

Instead of giving up their arms, Hapilon formed an alliance with the Maute Group and launched a bloody rampage across the university town by the picturesque Lake Lanao–prompting the President to declare martial law in Mindanao.

Hapilon, the top commander of the Abu Sayyaf Group, and Omarkhayam Maute of the Maute Group, were earlier killed by state forces, and followed the liberation of Marawi from IS-inspired terrorists.

The threat remains, however, as state forces continue to implement martial law in Mindanao until Dec. 31, 2018.

- Advertisement -

LATEST NEWS

Popular Articles