Oath Taking of Appointees of President Duterte

The following is the transcript of the statement of the President during the oath taking of his appointees on 1 August 2016 held at the Rizal Hall, Malacañan Palace.

STATEMENT OF PRESIDENT RODRIGO ROA DUTERTE

DURING THE MASS OATH TAKING OF APPOINTEES

Rizal Hall, Malacañang

August 01, 2016

Just sit down and listen for a while.

Alam mo, we’ll have a cabinet meeting, Dabs, and we will be talking about—this time—peace. Along the way, it’s always a rocky road. There is no negotiation that comes easy to us especially given the turmoil of our country. We are hoping that we could just talk. Maybe, we did not understand each other and so the best way is really to talk again and find out whether it is reachable or beyond our reach.

But I believe that fascination—as people, as citizens of this country and knowing fully well the cost of fighting with each other, and mind the bullets on our side to feel our fellow Filipino since very—well, it’s always a despicable thought to me. But I hope that we can proceed with the talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines and I’ll be spending about 10 days after tomorrow. I’m gonna fix the—firm the structure sa Mindanao issue. We will be going for the framework regarding the two factions: the MI, MN. But I’m very sorry to say that there will be no talks about these things—Abu Sayyaf.

I will not deal with criminals. I will not deal persons of extreme brutality. There is no redeeming factor or reason for me to sit down and talk with criminals. Pareho lang rin yan sa droga. They’re out to—just derail the life of a nation. Walang iba yan eh, that’s the only matter. The purpose is to kill. Purpose is to kill and to invoke the name of God, such kind of God, I would say.

So may we be enlightened in the coming days. My desire is just to see my nation at peace. And for everybody in this generation, before I make my exit that we will live in peace and leave a country that is prosperous to the next generation. ●