At President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s thanksgiving party in Cebu last night, Duterte was asked about the militant groups in the south.
He clarified that the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is not his enemy, but he would like to know if they are willing to negotiate with him and his government or continue fighting.
“Abu Sayyaf, hindi ko sila kalaban. I know that is connected with the issue of Mindanao. Nais ko lang linawin, sila ba? Are they willing to talk or just fight it out?” Duterte asked, adding that it pains him to “buy rifles and bullets, cannons and bombs to kill a Filipino.”
“I could hardly move my finger to sign a document buying things just to kill my fellowmen. Masakit. Masakit sa loob,” he said in a GMA News report.
In 2016 alone, the Abu Sayyaf pledged its allegiance to ISIS, beheaded two Canadian hostages, and kidnapped seven Indonesians.
Yet, Digong remains hopeful that his plans of resuming peace talks with the communist rebels as well as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Moro National Liberation Front “might succeed.”
“Nag-uusap na kami ni Sison and if there is a ceasefire… Nakikiusap ako sa inyo, tigil muna tayo,” Duterte said, referring to his talks with Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) chairman Jose Maria ‘Joma’ Sison about a ceasefire while negotiations are ongoing.
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