President Rodrigo Duterte. SIMEON CELI/PPD
President Rodrigo Duterte warned yesterday that the extremist group known as the Islamic State or IS may become a threat to Philippine national security as he confirmed the presence of Islamic propagandists in the country.
The threat could materialize in the medium term, the President said. “Tan-aw lang nako, three to seven years from now, magaproblema ta sa ISIS” [In my view, we will have a problem with ISIS three to seven years from now]. The extremist group is also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
Mr. Duterte met with elements of the 1st Infantry Division in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur on Wednesday.
“In some parts of the island of Mindanao, naay mga tao na puti [there are white men]. I suppose mga Arabo na [I suppose they are Arabs]. They are here as missionaries. Wala silay armas. [They have no weapons.] But they are into indoctrination. Maoy kahadlukan [That’s what we should fear],” he said.
The President said that like the communists, the propagandists of IS ideologies were “conditioning the minds of the people.”
“Sama sa mga komunista … kana moy delikado kay ang ginaluto nila ang utok [Like the communists … that’s what dangerous because they are into brainwashing],” he said.
The President told the military to be prepared for the possible threat. “I would rather that we will be prepared. We need more troops on the ground. May be we can deploy 20,000,” he said, but not this year.”