By GENALYN D. KABILING
The government could not guarantee that other parts of the country are safe from the Islamic State as President Duterte has likened the terror group to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
The President has deplored the “mass insanity” of the Islamic State and the threat posed to the country, saying Hitler also killed millions of Jews “for nothing.”
“I cannot give you that assurance. It’s a worldwide, it’s a worldwide phenomenon,” Duterte said in a media interview in Clark, Pampanga last Wednesday, when asked to give an assurance that there are no Maute Group or other terrorists in Luzon.
“It’s bereft of an ideology. What they know is just to kill and destroy. That’s what – So wala akong assurance diyan.
It’s a mass insanity, actually,” he said.
Duterte said every generation has such insanity phenomenon, citing that Hitler was a “madman” in power several decades ago.
“‘Yung panahon ng tatay natin, Hitler was a madman. And yet, he was able to contaminate a lot of people with his ideas about, ‘yung killing of mga Jews, ganon. Papatay by the millions and – for nothing. Ganoon itong ISIS,” he said.
For now, Duterte said he could not even say how soon the siege of Marawi City will end or what to expect in the coming days. But he remained hopeful that the conflict in Marawi will be over soon.
“I hope so. If it will end tomorrow, then I’d be the most happiest man in this nation,” he said when asked if he thinks the crisis will be over before his State-of-the-Nation Address.
