DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Militant groups warned Mayor Rodrigo Duterte against allowing the entry of US forces here, saying that would only bring in more violence instead of solving the recent bomb explosions in the city.
Mayor Rodrigo Duterte INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
Sheena Duazo, secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), was reacting to the mayor’s statement that he might reconsider allowing US presence in Davao city in the light of the recent explosions in the city.
“We would like to remind the mayor of Michael Meiring, the Central Intelligence Agency operative who injured himself with his own bomb inside Evergreen Hotel here in this city,” said Duazo.
In 2002, Duterte condemned the US when agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents reportedly whisked Meiring out of a hospital here and then out of the country.
“We would like to remind the mayor that US imperialism is always deceptive in its nature, able to portray itself as a friend when it is the enemy,” said Suazo. “We would like to remind the mayor of the confessions by the Philippine soldiers of the Magdalo coup, who were asked to instigate violence in their own homeland by causing bomb explosions.”
Bayan had lauded Duterte in the past for his strong stance against the entry of US troops in the city, including his refusal to allow the US to use the city’s old airport as a launching pad for its drones. The mayor earlier said the problems of the nation could be solved by its own leaders and that the entry of US forces here will only lead to violence. But in the light of the recent explosions inside the cinemas of two malls in the city, the mayor said he was reconsidering his position.
“The recent consideration of the mayor should alarm the people,” Duazo said.
“We call on the people to be wary. We call for a stronger local government that will stand up against the tide of US imperialism. We call on for a more informed citizenry who will see the broader context of the violence brought about by US troops,” she added.
“They are the enemies and must never be allowed to set foot in the country,” Duazo added.