President Rodrigo Duterte talking to reporters at the SMX Convention Center in Lanang, Davao City Thursday, March 9, 2017. (Paulo C. Rizal/davaotoday.com)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Some local officials who were present Thursday when President Rodrigo Duterte made a statement that he will declare Martial Law if they will not help him curb terrorism and violence in Mindanao viewed it more as a “challenge” than a threat.
Makilala town Mayor Rody Caoagdan said it only showed how Duterte supervises their operations.
“His style… that’s one way of supervising us [the mayors] by operation of law, the president supervises all the municipal mayors,” Caoagdan told Davao Today in an interview Thursday.
He said the Mindanaoan president is challenging them to do their job.
“For me, it is a challenge because the time that we take our oath we have already the obligation to protect our community and peace and order is the primordial concern of a certain locality. So work must be done. To me it is just a challenge,” Caoagdan said.
Maguindanao Governor Esmael “Toto” Mangungudatu also posed no objection to Duterte’s threat saying that the President’s intention was good.
“The purpose of the President is to maintain the peace order. If you observed, the president really loves the Filipino people,” he said.
“He always claimed that his being president of the country is not for himself but for everyone. It is but natural to say that,” Mangungudatu added.
Speaking on Thursday afternoon in the “Meeting with the Local Chief Executives in Mindanao” at the SMX Convention Center here, Duterte asked the cooperation of local officials in his campaign against illegal drugs and the terrorism in the country, especially in Mindanao.
Duterte tapped the help of 240 government officials in Mindanao to curb such the violence in the region.
In the said gathering, the President urged the Mindanao officials from Central Mindanao and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao to “use to the hilt” their police in their areas to prevent the escalation of violence related to illegal drugs and terrorism.
“Ako nakikiusap sa inyo because I said I do not want the trouble in Mindanao to spin out of control. Because then as President, I will be forced… I will be compelled to exercise extraordinary powers,” he said.
“If you tell me, mayor, this happened, that is pursuant to my order . . . then I will support you. I will tell the Ombudsman, I specifically ordered governors and mayors to use necessary force, and to kill if demanded under the circumstances.,” Duterte added, pointing out that both city and municipal mayors should be proactive in preventing the crimes in their areas.
Prior to Thursday’s gathering, Duterte attended the Philippine Councilors League National Convention on Tuesday, March 7. He warned the local chief executives in Central Mindanao that he would strip them off their power to control over the local police if lawlessness worsens in the region.
“So, in Central Mindanao…I am willing to talk to anybody about peace. Just to save lives. Hindi naman maganda yang magsigi lang patayan tayo, for what? (It is not good that we would always kill each other, for what?),” said Duterte.
“I’ll be talking bukas sa Central Mindanao governors and mayors. And for everybody. May I address myself to every mayor.., see to it that your municipality or city is peaceful,” he said.
“You know what if you [failed], I will strip off your power to control the police, and I will let in the military and police there. Hindi naman martial law [It is not similar to Martial law, to plan out what is good for a peaceful city or municipality. I can do that because I have declared a state of lawlessness and the fact that the military is there, helping the police to preserve,” said Duterte. (davaotoday.com)
