PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday, July 6, that he would never make a deal with the Maute group, who remains holed up in four barangays in war-torn Marawi City.
In a chance interview, the President denied the allegation of Muslim leader Agakhan Sharief, whom he called a "pretender," that he mulled talking to leaders of Maute terror group to end the Marawi Siege.
Duterte said he would only talk to revolutionaries “who are imbued with a principle,” if he were to offer a peace dialogue.
“No, I did not. He (Sharief) is the pretender. I’ve never talked to terrorists, that’s one. I will never talk to criminals and to the terrorists,” the Chief Executive said at the sidelines of his visit to Camp Bahian in Malaybalay City, Bukidnon.
Duterte's statement came after Reuters reported that Duterte allegedly asked Sharief to be an intermediary between the government and the Maute terrorists in a bid to end the conflict in the southern city.
Sharief said the Duterte had however aborted his earlier plan to hold peace negotiation with the militants without citing any reasons.
The President it was “impossible” for him to patch up differences with the Maute terror group, reiterating his dismay over the number of government casualties in the ongoing battle in Marawi.
“It’s impossible for me to say that I’m urging the criminals and terrorists [to just reconcile]. Many of my soldiers and police have already died,” he said.
“They shouldn’t mock me by making up stories. If there has to be peace, it would really be peace. Do not fool me for claiming we’re now okay after you waged war. Let us finish it once and for all,” Duterte added.
Earlier in the day, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella came to the President’s defense, maintaining that the government’s stance is “not to negotiate with the terrorists.”
Abella also said that the President is committed to fighting “criminal, corrupt and dangerous” activities that put in peril the lives of the Filipino people.
Duterte, who placed Mindanao under martial rule on May 23 to end the extremists’ uprising, was confident that the security personnel were already “more than a halfway” in regaining control in Marawi City.
“I plead to the Moro people, who are my brothers, we do not want to fight. We do not want to kill. And if we can just stop fighting, that’s fine with me. But for those criminals and terrorists, there’s nothing I could do,” he said.
“We are already almost more than halfway. [Marawi crisis] is going to end,” he added. (VoxPop Philippines)
