“They are just a bunch of brigands,” he says
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday denounced the New People’s Army attack on soldiers who were only holding relief operations for those affected by “Urduja” in northern Samar on Sunday, likening the communist armed wing to “ISIS.”
“I strongly protest and condemn the actions of the (NPA). I would say that this is something which I have been telling you all along. It does not have the ideology anymore..,” Duterte said at a situation briefing on the effects of “Urduja” on Monday afternoon.
He urged the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to “walk the extra mile to finish this sad chapter of our national life,” calling the NPA “just a bunch of brigands.”
“Pareho kayo ng ISIS. It’s an empty thing. There is no ideology except to destroy and kill,” Duterte said in a speech in Camp Crame later in the day.
“That is why it is no longer productive for us to be talking to them. Ayaw ko na,” he said.
At the briefing, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said that Duterte condoled with the victims of typhoon “Urduja,” pledging at the same time that “(the government) can help Biliran rise again.”
He said that the President directed the Department of Public Works and Highways to repair the two bridges in Naval, Biliran in less than 30 days, and asked other local government units affected to submit a list of projects they need.
