Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte said that he would only lift martial law in Mindanao only when the miltary and those in the know would say that it is time to lift it.
In his speech when he accepted the military assistance from China in Clark Air Base in Pampanga, the President said it is only the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police that would be able to say when martial law should be lifted since they are the people on the ground.
“The next question is … kailan matapos ito? (When will this end?) When will Duterte lift martial law?” Duterte said during his speech.
“I am not a soldier. I am not a field worker. I do not go around. As a matter of fact, I cannot go to places where I want to go because the military constricts my movement,” he said.
So he said that in the lifting of martial law, he will heed the advice of “the person or the organization who advised me of the need for immediate action.”
“Ngayon, kailan matapos ito? I am not a census taker. I do not study what’s happeing on the field, so i have to ask the people who asked me to do something about it. So it would be the Armed forces, (Defense Secretary Delfin) Lorenzana and the PNP,” the President explained.
“For as long as they say, it is not safe for anybody and everybody, then martial law will continue to exist in Marawi, maybe in some parts of the Visayas if there is a spill-over,” he said.
We are in a very dangerous situation,” says Duterte
“We are fighting an enemy whose bankruptcy in their mind and heart is very clear. They have no objective, no ideology, not even relating to God or to their fellow human beings. but their main task is just to destroy and kill,” he explained.
“And we are in a very dangerous situation. Until now I cannot comprehend why they were able to stockpile that much.”
The 72-year-old Philippine leader said what he really wants is for this to end soon.
“Again I pray to God that this fight will be short,” Duterte said.
He said that it would really depend on “what the armed forces and police would say.”
“Makita naman natin if it is already safe for everybody….Then maybe, I will ask them: ‘Is it time to lift (martial law)? But until then, martial law will remain.”
Heavy burden
The President said he was “grieving” with what is happening in Marawi as he was the one who had declared martial law to crush the terrorists who had taken hold of the city where some of his relatives also live.
“You just dont know my grief. Alam mo bakit? Nasasaktan ako more than anybody else … Ako kasi ang nag-utos e — Go there and fight. I’m declaring martial law,” Duterte said.
“The burden is really very heavy. I have to read the briefer, I have to be informed of what’s happening,” he said,
“Sino ang pinaka-nasasaktan? Ako… kasi ako ang nag-utos nitong away na ito.”
Stockpile of arms, hard to comprehend – Duterte
Duterte traces part of his roots in Marawi saying his grandmother was a Maranao.
He said some of his relatives had also been informing him before of the build-up of men in the area.
“Being from Mindanao, and having relatives in Lanao del Sur, or Marawi, my cousins there would time and again tell me that there was a buildup of men,” he said during his speech.
“But I never thought… Until now, I could not comprehend why they were able to stockpile so many ammunitions and guns,” he said.
He said even the politicians in the area failed to realize the gravity of the situation.
“Pati sila hindi nila akalain na it was running very strong. Yung droga hinahayaan nila. (They) kept a blind eye because nakikinabang sila,” Duterte said but did not specifically identify who these local officials were.
But President Duterte said he was already “quite aware of what was happening on the ground, though I did not specifically mention just to avoid creating panic or anxiety among our people.”
“But I was very sure that trouble was coming,” he said.
He said that even at the start of his presidency, he foresaw the looming dark cloud in the horizon.
“And that is the coming of ISIS terrorism,” he noted.
“Drugs were overflowing and produced in Marawi in excessive numbers and could even make everybody in this country an addict,” he said.
He said these drugs were also partly fueling the insurrection.