by Genalyn D. Kabiling
After halting the peace negotiations with the communist rebels, President Duterte is planning to hire more policemen to augment government forces battling the insurgents.
The President acknowledged that more cops should be trained and deployed for the long-haul fighting with the New People’s Army rebels following their attacks on government forces.
“We just have to pay for a long haul there. There’s no peace, there’s no talk. Ayaw ko nang makipag-usap and pati ‘yung aking escort, inambush nila,” he said in a media interview in Davao City last Friday.
“So, they really want everything stopped and go back to fighting so, wala man ako problema. I will hire more policemen,” he added.
Duterte said the Philippine National Police is currently training recruits “who will someday go to the field and also kill them.”
“Maraming pumapasok na pulis so they can keep on killing Filipinos if that is what they like. And I will just also do the same,” Duterte said.
The President recently decided to abandon the peace negotiations with the communist rebels following a series of attacks, including one on his security group in North Cotabato.
Duterte told government troops that the NPA rebels would be the next target after the Islamic militants in Marawi City. He said there was a strong resurgence of the NPA rebels who have apparently taken advantage of the Marawi crisis to attack government forces.
With the breakdown of the peace talks, Duterte also ordered the re-arrest of National Democratic Front consultants who were given temporary liberty due to their participation in the negotiations. “They’ll have to surrender or we will hunt them down. I’m sorry. Please do not resist because magkagulo tayo niyan,” he said.
Government negotiators were supposed to hold backchannel talks with their rebel counterparts in The Netherlands last weekend but the meeting has been scrapped.
