DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/20 Sept) – President Rodrigo R. Duterte warned of more bombings after the September 2 explosion at the night market on Roxas Avenue here where 15 died and 69 were injured.
“There will be another explosion, not here but in other parts of the Philippines,” he said Monday at the Matina Enclaves during the distribution of cash assistance to the bombing victims.
He said more attacks might happen to avenge “historical injustices” against the Moro people, alluding to the Bud Dajo massacre committed by the US that caused so “much hatred in Mindanao.”
“To the Moro, it happened yesterday. So puputok ito ng putputok, kaya nagsabi ako,” he said.
Without naming any particular group, Duterte said there are young Moro people who will not talk peace with the government and have reportedly sworn allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
He said these people want US soldiers out of Mindanao.
“They would say, mayor, we can talk to you other things but we will not talk to you about peace. Until now, Americans are still directing the war against us. Nakikita nila sa camp ang American special forces. Tayo ang army pero ang nagdirect America pa rin,” he said.
“The wound is still there, very fresh,” he said. “Pero sila magsabi hindi ito kahapon, hanggang ngayon. Nagyera kami sa Espanol at Americano, pati ngayon (But they said this happened not only yesterday but also today. We are fighting the Spaniards and Americans until now).”
But the President vowed to reach out to these groups to bring peace in Mindanao as well as put an end to the drug problem and criminality in the country to fulfill his campaign promise.
“Drugs – it will continue. I don’t care if there are thousands of hearing everyday, I will not stop until the last pushers on the streets are fully exterminated,” he said,
Kawagib Moro Human Rights secretary-general Bay Ali Indayla said the Moro people admire Duterte’s position on US military forces in Mindanao and recognition of the historical injustices committed against them.
She said Duterte’s assertion of Philippine sovereignty was a huge step towards the attainment of peace and freedom from an imperialist power.
She also lauded Duterte who, during the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, Laos, scrapped his prepared speech and took up the Bud Dajo massacre in Sulu in 1906.
She said the Moro people are hoping that Duterte would live up to his avowed policy of pursuing an independent foreign policy on the grounds that the country has “long ceased to be a colony of the US.”(Antonio L. Colina IV/MindaNews)
