Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio said the national government should show “no mercy” to criminals and terrorists.
Duterte made the statement during the sit-down meeting with the officials of the government’s security forces. She was designated as the government caretaker while President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. is on his inaugural state visits to Indonesia and Singapore.
“Our objective was to strengthen existing coordination and enhance interagency cooperation on issues concerning our national security and the country’s development,” she said.
“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,” Duterte-Carpio added.
The vice president added that the country’s goals may be “slowed down, held up or hostage(d) altogether by forces motivated to derail our progress off the track.”
“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 said.
Resolving security concerns is the only way for the country to recover and rebuild after the pandemic, Duterte said.
Marcos assigned Duterte-Carpio as the government’s caretaker or officer-in-charge, overseeing “day-to-day operations in the Office of the President and overseeing the general administration of the Executive Department.”
Marcos is currently in Indonesia for his three-day state visit. His next destination is Singapore from September 6 to 7 to meet with President Halimah Yacob and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
— Ronald Espartinez