Duterte: No gov’t aid for NPAs affected with earthquake in Samar

April 24, 2019

President Rodrigo Duterte said the government would not provide assistance to members of the communist New People's Army (NPA) who could have been affected by the recent earthquake in Samar.

Duterte made the statement during a situation briefing on Tuesday in Pampanga regarding the effects of the magnitude 6.1 earthquake in some parts of Luzon recently.

During the same event, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Deputy Director Bartolome Bautista reported about the magnitude 6.6 tremblor that struck on Tuesday Eastern Samar.

"If it's the NPA (members) who are buried there, don't help him. I'll just spend for those sons of a b****. Let's say if there are 10 or 20 NPAs there, just tell them that 'Duterte does not like to spend one centavo of fuel for the equipment to retrieve your comrades. He's angry at you'," Duterte added.

Duterte has decided to terminate peace talks with communist rebels in 2017. He even declared the Communist Party of the Philippines-NPA as terrorist organizations.

In Porac, Pampanga, the government has been conducting rescue and retrieval operations after a supermarket collapsed following the strong earthquake last Monday. Celerina Monte/DMS