President Rodrigo Duterte (PNA file photo)
ZAMBOANGA CITY – President Rodrigo R. Duterte has appealed to the military to remain calm and not to take revenge against the police over the recent shooting incident where four soldiers were killed, saying this will not do the country any good.
The President made the appeal in his “Talk to the Troops” during his visit to the Edwin Andrews Air Base here late Friday.
Justice, Duterte said, will be given to the victims and those culpable will be punished.
He said he has directed the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to speed up the investigation into the alleged “misencounter” between members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Jolo, Sulu last June 29.
Slain in the incident were soldiers Maj. Marvin Indammog, 39; Capt. Irwin Managuelod, 33; Sgt. Jaime Velasco, 38; and Cpl. Abdal Asula, 33. They were tailing four terrorist suicide bombers when the shooting happened.
Duterte acknowledged that the incident has created animosity between the AFP and PNP, “which is not good because, in the end, it would be the people (who) will bear the brunt of all these things.”
He told the military not to hold a grudge against the police as “there is a more important task to do and that is to protect the people of the Philippines.”
Duterte told both the military and the police to wait for the result of the investigation being conducted by the NBI, which will be made public “so that everybody will understand the situation.”
Killing policemen will not bring the four slain soldiers back to life, he said.
During the visit, the President had a closed-door meeting with top military and police officials, as well as government officials, at the Edwin Andrews Air Base.
It was the first time he met with government troops since the country was hit by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. (PNA)
