Philippine’s President Rodrigo Duterte said in an interview that some of his cousins belong to terrorist groups, including the Islamic State. He said he would not hesitate to fight them if they came to meet.
“To be honest, I have cousins on the other side, some in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, others in the Moro Front for National Liberation,” Rodrigo Duterte told the Philippine information website “Rappler” on December 29th. These two movements, struggling for the independence of the southern Philippines in a Islamic key, are not the only ones in which members of the president’s family are active: “As far as I know, some are with the Islamic State”, he said. “You are you and I am me, if we were to meet, so be it,” he said, implying that he would not hesitate to fight them. In his usual outspokenness, he also apologized in advance if such a meeting should take place.
In his speech, the Philippine’s President also linked ISIS with two recent attacks in his country, explaining that the terrorist organization “seemed to be everywhere”. According to him, the bomb that exploded in a church in Midsayap on 24 December, causing 13 wounded, and the attack in a market in Davao on 2 September that killed 14 people, are committed by ISIS terrorists. He added, however, that he is not prepared to disclose more information at this time.
The presence of the ISIS in the Philippines is not new, Rodrigo Duterte had already declared that foreigner agents who lent allegiance to the terrorist organization were installed in the region of Mindanao, in the south of the country. The Philippine’s president fears that the group will make it a province of the Caliphate, that it’s seeking to establish in Southeast Asia.
Source: RT en Francais