The Marcos administration will show “no mercy” to criminals and terrorists who want to derail the country’s progress, Vice President Sara Duterte reiterated to the heads of major command services on Monday, Sept. 5.
Duterte, who is now government caretaker while President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is on his first state visit to Indonesia and Singapore this week, hosted a lunch meeting with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its major services—the Philippine Army, Philippine Air Force (PAF), and the Philippine Navy—at the Department of Education (DepEd) central office in Pasig City.
She also met with the chiefs and official representatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), and officials from the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the DepEd.
“As the caretaker, may I reiterate the Marcos administration’s direction towards aggressively pursuing programs and projects that will address social inequities and further propel the country’s progress post-pandemic,” she said in her press message after the meeting.
“Our policy against criminals and terrorists and those that support and espouse their ideologies of violence should be hardline. We should show no mercy to criminals and terrorists,” she added.
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Duterte lamented that the “realization of our national aspirations” could be “slowed down, held up, or hostaged” by forces that aim to derail the progress.
“The Philippines will only be able to truly recover and rebuild post-pandemic and meaningfully stand with honor and pride as a nation if we successfully address threats to our security,” the Vice President and concurrent Education chief said.
She thanked the “security sector’s professionalism, integrity, commitment, and undying love of our country and the Filipino people.”
Duterte met with Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente O. Bacarro, AFP chief of staff; Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., commanding general of the Philippine Army; BFP chief Louie S. Puracan; Jail Director Allan Iral, chief of the BJMP; PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio M. Abu; Major Gen. Arthur M. Cordura, PAF acting commanding general; Rear Admiral Caesar Bernard N. Valencia, vice commander of the Philippine Navy; and Lt. Gen. Jose Chiquito Malayo, deputy chief for administration of the PNP.
It can be recalled that the Vice President originally wanted to be secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) as revealed by Marcos himself early this year during the campaign.
The President, however, appointed her to DepEd and Duterte decided to let go of her preference for the defense agency to avoid “intrigues.”
Since then, the Vice President and Education chief had made it a point to educate learners and school administrators during her visit to public schools in provinces not to welcome communist ideologies and to shun those trying to recruit them to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).