PHILLIPINES President Rodrigo Duterte declared on Monday he would not let human rights get in the way of stopping terrorists from destroying the Filipino people.
In a speech delivered at the 80th founding anniversary of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Duterte said the threat of terrorism was discussed during his trips to Indonesia and Malaysia.
“We have a very strong rebellion in Mindanao, terrorists in Jolo, Sulu, kidnapping people almost everyday, putting a shame to our country. Every time they do it, they slap us, internationally. I’ve been to Indonesia to talk with President [Joko] Widodo. I just came back from Malaysia and we [Prime Minister Najib Razak] have agreed and our people are talking now. I am not at liberty to tell you, what is–what it is all about, but it means fighting terrorism, terrorism.”
Duterte then asked what human rights groups have done to prevent and stop atrocities in war-torn areas, stressing that terrorists themselves dismiss human rights.
“Can you fight them with human rights? Where’s the human rights in Syria? In Aleppo now, in Mosul? They’re bombing children, killing them executing everyone. Is there a crime for human rights there? I haven’t heard. I haven’t heard the human rights crime to that. But we have to prepare for it, because once the terrorists of the Middle East are the pride of the land area, a real estate were they can sleep, stand on, or just simply sit down, they would wander to other places and they will come here, and we have to prepare for that. Remember, these guys, they do not have an iota of what a human right is, believe me. So we will have a calibrated thing here. I will not just sit down and allow my people to be slaughtered, for the sake of human rights. That’s bullshit. That’s bullshit. My response be would always a calibrated to what we are facing — to destroy the Filipino nation.”
On Friday, Duterte hinted that he would suspend the writ of habeas corpus if lawlessness in Mindanao would not slow down.
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