President Rodrigo Duterte will not declare an state of emergency in Sulu following the death of 15 soldiers in an encounter with the bandit group Abu Sayyaf.
Asked if the recent deaths of over a dozen government forces would warrant the declaration of a state of emergency, Duterte said, “no.”
“It’s just a punitive police action by the security forces of the government. The magnitude of the trouble there does not warrant anything except the industry of the AFP and PNP,” he said in a press briefing at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) during as he welcomed 130 repatriated overseas Filipino workers from Saudi.
On Monday, at least 15 government troops were killed in a clash with Abu Sayyaf bandits in Patikul, Sulu.
Following the bloody encounter, the government is sending 2,500 more soldiers or five battalions to Sulu to terminate the threats of the Abus.
Duterte earlier said that the Abu Sayyaf lost his trust, as he ordered the military and the police to “destroy them because they are criminals.”
“Kill them, destroy them,” he said, referring to his orders to the military.
The President said the government has all the resources to annihilate the Abu Sayyaf and finish the group. CDG
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