Duterte: American troops must leave Mindanao

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte participates in the ASEAN Summit held in Vientiane, Laos on September 6. KING RODRIGUEZ/PPD

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said the US Special Forces must leave Mindanao, saying their presence would only worsen the situation in the strife-torn region.

“The US Special Forces, they have to go. They have to (leave) Mindanao. There are many (Americans) there,” the President said in a speech at the oath-taking ceremony of the latest batch of his appointees in Malacañang.

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“I just could not say it (at the Asean summit in Laos) because I don’t want a rift with America. The situation there (in Mindanao) will be more volatile. If they are seen there, they will really be killed,” he added.

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Duterte, who became the buzz at the meeting of the 10-member regional bloc in Vientiane last week for his verbal tirades against US President Barack Obama, also showed photographs of the massacre of the Moro people during the US occupation./rga