DAVAO CITY — Mayor Sara Z. Duterte has condemned the attack on the troops of the 16th Infantry Battalion (IB) reportedly by the New People’s Army (NPA) in Paquibato District that left two soldiers wounded on Wednesday afternoon.
“The New People’s Army has once again shamelessly exposed itself as the devil incarnate when it attacked soldiers in Sitio Kapihan, Barangay Malabog in Paquibato District,” Duterte said in statement on Wednesday night.
Duterte said attack came days after it announced, along with the Communist Party of the Philippines, that it was extending its self-declared ceasefire to April 30.
“That we can only say now as a total sham,” she said.
She said the cowardly attack, which was carried out with the use of a bomb, only proved that the NPA, the CPP, and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines are truly the enemy of the people and the government.
“We condemn this attack as this happened at a time when we are supposed to be working together against Covid-19 (coronavirus disease 2019),” she said.
She said they can clearly expect nothing from the NPA terrorists — not even the slightest compassion for the people. It cannot even feign concern.
“For the NPA terrorists, what’s important is death, destruction, and taking over the government,” she said.
The mayor said she is urging the public to reject the NPA terrorists, work together and strongly resist its perverted political agenda, and drive them completely out of the communities. (Armando B. Fenequito Jr.)