President Duterte to troops: stay alive and fight cool

“Stay alive, fight cool.” This was President Rodrigo Duterte‘s advise to government troops fighting Islamic State-inspired Maute terrorists in Marawi City during his visit to the war-torn city on Friday, the second time since the clashes broke out in May.“The problem is some want to end it quickly. Remember, this is a war, and the bullet is the enemy here. Relax. One rule is do not enter a war with hate. When you enter the war zone, think about killing, but do not (enter) with hate. Because if you have hate, you’ll fall down],” Duterte said in his speech.“Stay alive, fight cool, do not be in a hurry, do not go into a rage, because if you have hate, you will only put yourself at risk. Take time since the fighting is almost over,” he added.The Commander-in-Chief’s second visit to the besieged city, just like the first, was unannounced.Officials only confirmed the visit when the president had already left the area.The president, who believes that one of the root causes of the war in Marawi was illegal drugs, criticised former President Benigno Aquino 3rd.Aquino, who after being called stupid by Duterte, said the administration’s drug war had not resulted in anything significant.“He was asked about the drug operation and he said that nothing was happening and it’s been a year... I answered back and said that he was stupid. What he said hurt...A lot of my soldiers died, police were wounded...I find that remark insulting],” Duterte said.“I am very sensitive on this issue because a lot of police and soldiers have died, so if you’re careless enough to say that nothing happened, I will really get angry,” he stressed.During his visit, President Duterte inspected the improvised medical station for the soldiers on the ground.The president was accompanied by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Armed Forces Chief General Eduardo Año, and Special Assistant to the President Christopher Bong Go.Duterte also hit back at Senato Grace Poe after the latter reminded him to be careful with his language after he cursed at former president Aquino for criticising the war on drugs.“Grace said, ‘watch your mouth.’ You take care of your mouth, and I will take care of mine, because my mouth is not for your mouth. Just shut up because you don’t understand from whereof I stand,” Duterte said.Poe told reporters on Thursday she understood that cursing was part of the president’s “style,” but warned that this could influence children to do the same.Military officials have expressed fears that terrorists operating in Marawi City, in a daring move, could move to Manila.The possibility of a spill over has prompted authorities to deploy of a 25-man Philippine Army contingent in areas near the Golden Mosque in Quiapo, Manila.Major Jeoffret Braganza admitted that this fear is the main reason why his group was directed to stay in Quiapo, particularly in two barangays, for three months mainly to profile the people living there and prevent the entry of any terrorist.“Imagine if extremists will take hold of Quiapo, it will be a disaster,” Braganza told reporters when he visited them at the Manila Police District Press Corps office on Friday.Braganza is the commanding officer of the 11th Civil-Military Operations Company Regiment, Philippine Army based in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.The deployment started on July 20 with two teams making rounds 24 hours daily.“The Quiapo area is under strict surveillance, particularly Barangays 383 and 384. We cannot be caught with our pants down,” Braganza said, adding that they make sure no “foreign” individual would be able to infiltrate the place.Braganza said it is not easy to win the trust of barangay residents and their leaders from the barangay chairmen to village councillors.As part of efforts to establish rapport with people in the area, the contingent is launched “Community Support Program,” or activities consisting of medical and dental missions, feeding, haircut, youth leadership summit, educational tours, and operation clean-up, among others.Meanwhile, a total of 265 school children from Marawi City have moved to Manila and many of them are now staying with their relatives in Quiapo area, including Barangays 383 and 384.Concerned about their situation, Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada instructed Wilfredo Cabral, head of the Division of City Schools, to conduct therapy and trauma treatment sessions for transferees from Marawi City.“As long as we can, we will continue helping these children and their families gravely affected by the war in Marawi. They need all the help they can get, especially those innocent children,” Estrada said in a statement.Many of the Marawi school children were transferred to the Geronimo Santiago Elementary School in Quiapo and Ramon Avanceña High School last July 13.Cabral said they will include in their debriefing parents and relatives of the school children.“This is a psychological first aid for the children. We will give them counselling, together with their parents, and we will assess their psychological and emotional well-being,” he added. The Marawi siege started last May 22. Some 389,300 residents left the city and about 70,380 are housed in 79 government-run evacuation centres, while the rest have sought shelter with their relatives in nearby provinces or fled to Metro Manila.