Infuriated by the Abu Sayyaf Group’s (ASG) indiscriminate killing activities, President Duterte on Friday directed government security forces to destroy the bandit group now. The Abu Sayyaf is “out of control” and there is only one way to deal with them: For the government security forces to crush them, Duterte told soldiers at the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Eastern Mindanao Command (AFP-Eastmincom) in Panacan, Davao City, last Friday. “So my orders to the Armed Forces and to the police: Destroy them. Destroy them because they are criminals,” the President said. “We’ll never have peace in that area there… even if you grant them autonomy, and they maintain to be bandits. We will never have peace in that land,” he continued. With an indefinite truce with communist rebels, and the Muslim separatist groups – Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) – having also expressed their [...]
