(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said he would declare the New People’s Army a terrorist group, noting what he said were their “depredations,” including the supposed killing of a 4-month-old baby.
“I’ll be issuing a proclamation. I will remove them from the category of a legal entity, or at least a semimovement which would merit our attention, placing the—same as America—terrorists,” Duterte said.
He reiterated he no longer wanted to talk to them, noting that, in the first place, they view him as a killer.
He said that the military would launch offensives against the NPA not as rebels but as criminals.
He said they were, after all, no longer considered as fighting for a cause.
He also singled out leftist groups which he said were in cahoots with the NPA, noting that he might order a crackdown against them.