President Duterte is not backing down from his planned creation of a government hit squad to target communist rebels despite apprehensions raised by some groups.
In his visit to Lanao del Norte Wednesday, the President said he would deploy “assassination teams” to eliminate NPA hitmen as he dismissed any human rights concerns.
“I’m putting notice to everybody. I will follow them. i will field assassination teams also to kill them,” he said during the groundbreaking of Panguil Bay bridge in Tubod, Lanao del Note.
“Yung human rights? Nah.. sigh lang mag-istorya yan [Human rights? Nah, they’re just making up stories],” he added.
The President earlier announced he would create a death squad to eliminate NPA sparrow unit after expressing dismay with the deadly attacks on government troops.
Duterte said he would call the group the “Duterte Death Squad” that would match the NPA’s talent of assassinating people.
“One of these days, I’ll be forced also to create my own sparrow. Walang hanapin kung hindi mag — ‘yung mga istambayan na mga tao diyan, suspected NPAs at bibirahin rin sila [They will do nothing but find the suspected NPAs loitering around and neutralize them],” Duterte said before an assembly of troops at Camp Rajah Sikatuna in Bohol last Tuesday.
“Ngayon ang kulang talaga is ang sparrow ko rin. Iyan lang man — diyan lang man sila makalamang. Sa bukid, fight man ‘yan. So mag-create ako ng sparrow. Duterte Death Squad against the sparrow [Now, I only lack my own sparrow. That’s where they are at advantage. In the field, they fight. So I will create a sparrow unit – Duterte Death Squad against the sparrow]. That shouldn’t be a problem because they are our enemy. Why should we hide?” he added.
Some senators however have opposed the President’s plan to create hit squad against communist rebels, saying killings would not solve the country’s problems. Other senators on the other hand believed that Duterte would not push through with the plan.
A human rights group has also expressed concern that Duterte’s plan to create his own sparrow units might only worsen the human rights calamity in the country.
