Duterte to soldiers: Revenge on cops won't bring slain Army men back

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday asked soldiers to keep calm in the wake of the killings of Army men by Jolo policemen earlier this week.

Speaking before troops in Zamboanga City, Duterte expressed optimism that the National Bureau of Investigation would “find the truth for us.”

“I’m sure that they would not fail me,” Duterte said. “We’re trying to figure out how we can in the meantime do something to give you the assurance that justice will be done.”

“Kung sino man may kasalanan, then he has to pay for it,” he added. “I am pleading, nakikiusap ako na tulungan ninyo ako to keep the waters in the meantime calm and we wait for the result of the investigation.”

Duterte also said he was "not ready to condemn anybody" during the investigation.

“You want to take revenge? For what? Gusto ko rin pumatay ng pulis? For what? Would it make the four officers come back to life?” he said.

Duterte said the real enemies of the state are the Abu Sayyaf terrorists and the New Peoples’ Army.

“Itong mga pulis na ito, they have a purpose there and we need them. The Republic of the Philippines needs them. Kayo, iyon ang katulong ninyo,” he said.

The President flew to Zamboanga City to discuss Monday’s incident with top officials of the Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The military said the soldiers were conducting intelligence operations to track alleged suicide bombers when they were flagged down by the cops to verify their identities.

A police report stated that a shooting incident transpired when the soldiers supposedly escaped and pointed their weapons at the police officers.

While the PNP branded what transpired as a shooting incident, the Philippine Army concluded that it was a case of murder.

The PNP has disarmed and relieved from their posts the nine policemen involved in the incident.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Walter Annayo, chief of the Jolo Municipal Police Station, has also been removed from his post. -NB/LDF, GMA News