Duterte pleads to soldiers not to take revenge vs cops

July 5, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday there is no use to take revenge on the part of the military following the death of their four comrades at the hands of the policemen in Jolo.

"If you take revenge, for what? You want to kill police, for what? Will it make the four (military) officers come back to life?" the commander-in-chief said in a speech in front of the soldiers in Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City.

He asked for the government troops' understanding as he assured of an impartial investigation being conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation.

"The investigation will proceed to find out the truth unbriddled by anbody. No one will meddle and only the truth (will come out)," Duterte said.

As the president, Duterte said he is giving his word of honor that justice will be done.

"I will find out the truth from the investigator and I hope it will satisfy you," he said.

He said he was "pleading" for the understanding of the soldiers.

Duterte stressed that the real enemies are not the policemen but the communist New People's Army and the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group.

In an earlier press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that Duterte would meet separately the military and the cops, including the nine police suspects involved in the death of the four soldiers.

The NBI has been investigating whether the incident was a misencounter or a rubout last Monday.

Duterte's meeting with the troops was his first official public schedule outside Malacañang or his office in Davao City since mid March when the quarantine measures have been enforced in the country. Duterte was wearing a face mask when he faced the soldiers. Celerina Monte/DMS