[Troop Commander, kindly give the tikas pahinga order.]

I have with me in my company tonight the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo. I don’t know how many Cabinet members are here.

Police Chief Superintendent Manuel Gaerlan; Police Senior Superintendent Joel Orduña; Police Senior Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela; officers and staff of the Police Regional Office; fellow workers in government; mga kababayan.

You know, as usual, I only have two pages. I’m not fond of giving too long speeches. But tonight, you bear with me because I have more important things to tell you.

Unang-una, we have so many different fronts to fight. But the most serious right now and a very toxic enemy, ang ISIS. It is…

I’ll give you the materials so that you would know. Kindly read it because it would contribute to your knowledge of how you’d fight the revolution now.

It’s actually a revolution at it is fighting us for no reason at all. It is a toxic thing that started in the minds of the Arabs who are at the same time the Muslims.

Wala tayong problema sa religion. Pati ako, ang nanay ko kasi Mindanaoan. I can perfectly understand Islam. Pero itong kalaban natin na bago ngayon and it is being mixed with the local terrorist, but still also pledging allegiance to ISIS. This is a very cruel and a brutal group.

And you can now tell now as we start to unravel the situation in Marawi, they have cut the heads of Muslims and Christians alike.

In the Philippines, it was never an issue, religion. It is not now. But ang problema nito, pumunta itong mga foreigners, it is an international insanity and they are in every town and city all over the world.

I have nothing against the Moro people. My grandmother is a Maranao. Wala akong ano. Ang sa pamilya ko, I have one branch and I’m referring to the Mayor, his wife is a Tausug. Ang kanyang nanay is a Maranao also.

Mine is to the grandmother ko. Ito namang kanya, asawa niya. At may isa akong grupo na apo na puro Moro at Muslim.

Wala akong problema diyan. Ang problema ko itong mga tao who got contaminated with ISIS. Ito ‘yung ISIS, ito ‘yung mga sundalo na mga bata noon, when the Middle East was on fire.

Ito ‘yung naging desperado kasi nakita nila their country invaded. I’m sorry to say, it was the United States who did it. And on a pretext of mass destruction weapons nandoon, pagdating wala naman.

And they saw their country destroyed and Gaddafi was also killed. Pinakialaman kasi ng lider eh, because they did not like despots.

But ‘yung hindi kasi nakakaintindi ng Qur’an and the way of life of a Muslim. It’s really feudal. Kaya ‘yung… Pati Afghanistan inaaway ng… And there’s so many wars na wala tayong pakialam at nagpuntahan na ‘yan dito.

So in Marawi, we got about four Caucasian- looking, so Arab. Caucasian looking, from Kuwait ‘yan kasi ‘yung ibang Arabs maiitim eh.

Ito mga puti ‘to, talagang puti. So may apat tayo and a host of several Indonesians. All, kasama sa ating mga Pilipino na terorista.

And this will not go out of the scene within the next 10 years. Kung may anak ka ngayon sa PNP o mag-pulis o sa PMA, aabutin pa nila itong giyerang ‘to, and this will be a bloody and brutal war.

I am not trying to mag-yabang sa inyo. But when I had my first command conference sa mga pulis, sa sundalo, as President, we’re talking about drugs. And I was really hitting the drug issue because it was fuelling.

Ang gasolina ng mga terorista was drugs and simply alam ninyo ‘yan. It’s almost everywhere. Ke nandito sa Del Sur, then you go to Cotabato, Maguindanao, Buldon, Lanao.

They were producing drugs beyond the normal capacity of all of the addicts in the Philippines can consume. So they were really actually selling and buying guns and everything.

It would be good that after this war, if it will end someday to start looking into saan itong mga baril pati ‘yung mga bala kasi ‘yung mga — may mga cartons doon marka pa ‘yung DND personnel, from DND ordnance.

So bakit ito nasa… Alam natin, alam ko. Before I left for Russia, I was already told that there was already amassing of su — per intelligence report.

But hindi ko akalain na ganon karami ang bala. Saan nila nakuha?

At bakit sila nakapagtago that until now ang karamihan ng tama ng sundalo ko pati pulis ko sa Lanao…? Inaako ko kayo kasi ako ‘yung Commander in Chief at doble, triple ‘yung sakit ng puso ko everyday, magbasa ako sa briefer.

Masakit sa akin makikita na tayo namatayan ng limang pulis, apat… Why? Eh ako ‘yung nag-declare ng martial law. Ako ‘yung nagsabi sa inyo, pumunta kayo doon makipagpatayan.

So every soldier or every policeman na namamatay doon mas — araw-araw nabibigatan ako. I said, I told your officers, I am not so much into — equanimity ko, ‘yung sa utak kasi…

At the time that I have to solve every problem then I get to review again of what are our options would be and how long more it would take for us to take back Marawi and at what costs sa buhay.

Huwag na lang ‘yung bala sa akin. I can lose all the money in government buying bullets and everything. Ang buhay ang problema diyan.

So that’s why every… Tomorrow, I’m out again to visit another brigade. Now, with the outbreak of this conflict, ang sabi ng PSG ko is no — not to mention to anybody especially in public where I would go tomorrow to visit the camps.

Sabi nila, you do not need the publicity. It will not contribute anything anyway. So maglipad na lang tayo doon sans the publicity and even ‘yung mga…

Ang problema dito is in every generation meron talagang lumalabas na demonyo. Our parents suffered 2nd World War. But where did it start? Germany. Anong ideolohiya? Nazi. Adolf Hitler was able to convince so many countries to side with him and when they knew that he was killing the Jews by the million and yet he was treated as a hero for about three to four years before he went down. Meron talaga eh.

Ngayon itong ISIS. Eh itong ISIS wala itong… I do not believe that they are into Islam. Islam does not direct anybody to kill a human being for no reason at all.

Christians ganon din. Wala naman ibinigay sa atin na, even in school noon na magpatay ka ng isang inosenteng tao. ‘Yan ang problema pero ito, bantay kayo.

Kaya sabi ko nagbibigay ako ng armas kasi ang Army, walang side arms. Ang problema sa Army, they have to go home once, twice a year. Magbabyahe ‘yan walang armas so totally naked in terms of preserving himself.

Kaya I decided to buy ‘yung ganon at lahat ng awardees meron kayo tutal kayong mga pulis kumpleto naman. You have the Glock. Eh gusto nila talaga ng — pinapili ko pati ‘yung, tinanong ko ‘yung security ko taga-PSG ang gusto talaga ‘yung .45.

Glock sana ang i-order ko, ‘yung Glock, ‘yung na-issue sa inyo. Ang Glock kasi is maintenance-free. Hindi kinakalawang tapos hindi nagja-jam. Eh pero nakita nitong mga sundalo, ‘yung .45 talaga na configuration. Hala sige kung ‘yan ang gusto ninyo.

I asked seven of my security, mga PSG: “Mamili kayo, sa Glock o ito?” Lahat talaga gusto sa .45. Ewan ko ba, in love masyado sa… But the Glock is actually also… What I’m giving you is a .45 Glock. But I leave to you… You must be happy otherwise it’s not a gift. I’m giving you mga baril na ‘yan to make you happy.

‘Yan ipalisensya ninyo sa sarili ninyo at inyo na ‘yan, doblado na ang baril ninyo. So ‘yan ang sitwasyon natin ngayon. There’s no telling when matapos ito.

Ngayon ang tanong, “Bakit ako nag-martial law?” Personally I don’t want it, lalo na kaming mga pulitiko.

It makes us unpopular eh kasi parang hindi — magulo ang bayan mo hindi mo kontrolado. But part of my mandate really is to preserve and defend the Filipino nation. ‘Yan ang oath of office ko, ‘yan rin ang oath of office ninyo.

So nung nasa Moscow ako sa Russia nung nagbalita na inatake na ang Marawi, nandoon si Secretary Lorenzana, nandoon si Esperon, nandoon lahat ‘yun kasi we were discussing arms and others, mga trade.

And I was criticized kasi junket daw, sabi ni Presidente Ramos. It was not. We got about 9 billion of ready-made transactions kaagad. Now, ‘yung sabi nila ‘yung mga opisyal ng pulis, ng Army.

Alam mo, ang bayad ko sa eroplano ke ako lang mag-isa doon pasahero o punuin ko ng tao, pareho lang.

I mean, even if I do not bring anybody if I use the plane PAL, magsabi ‘yan na ipagpalagay natin one billion, punuin ko man ‘yan. And so, I invited ‘yung mag-retire.

‘Yun na lang mga military pati pulis na mag-retire, I invited them along. Ano ba naman ‘yan, libre naman. Tutal pareho lang rin ang bayad ko, sabi ko, “You come with me because ‘yan lang rin ang paraan na maipakita ako sa inyo na this is also a nation who has the gratitude for you. Sumama kayo para — isama ninyo ‘yung asawa ninyo at ipasyal ko kayo.”

And I thought that, you know, I was expecting really the four days ahead na ‘yun ang pinuntahan ko, only to stay there for about six hours because ‘yun nga, pumutok na ang ano.

But good that Putin came in from another region. Russia is I said, a vast expanse of territory. Part of Russia straddles in Asia and part of it also is in Europe.

But Putin was somewhere else but I got the — before he said he would be coming in, if I can just wait six hours, he would fly in.

So I was able to accomplish. Ang problema, kaming tatlo na lang sa airport nag-usap — si Lorenzana pati si Cayetano, ako, pati si Bong. But lahat ng gusto ko, napag-usapan namin. We talked for about one hour and 10 minutes, okay naman.

And so kahapon, hinihintay ko lang rin ’yung advice nila, kahapon dumating ‘yung sa Chinese. By this time, they have perfected the art also.

Hindi manalo ang China ng mga giyera kung pulpol ‘yang inimbento nila na baril. It’s all good but hindi lang tayo kasi sanay ‘cause we’ve been used to made in USA.

But ‘yung mga sniper na dumating, ang gaganda. And I told Lorenzana na paghatian ninyo pati na ‘yung mga — lalo na ‘yung sniper. Very beautiful. You’ll get it in a matter of days. Dadaan lang kasi ‘yan sa ano — sa itong ballistics.

All of those guns will have to go to FEO or FEU? What’s the title of the office now? FEO Bong, pakisabi lang sa kanila bilisan ‘yung ballistic exams para lalo na ‘yang mga bago, ibigay doon sa Marawi muna.

But the next shipment would be on — this September. And I hope that you can assemble about one battalion of snipers para — mahusay kung marami tayong snipers. They are also sniping at us and they have the beautiful guns, they have the Barretts. So you’d be wondering, “Saan nila ito nakuha?”

Ang may mga Barrett lang ‘yan ‘yung mga Amerikano, tayo, binigyan tayo ng Amerikano, nagbili tayo. But sila halos, until now, we are still trying to — we are still recovering some of their weapons at that includes the Barrett.

Well, it’s a deadly firearm, it can reach you almost one kilometer away. But may panlaban naman tayo. Marami man rin tayong Barrett. And with additional arms, I think we will find it easy really to operate. I hope that this fight would not last for another month.

Pagod na ang mga sundalo na. Kasi kayo ngayon pagka mag-isang buwan pa ito, palit na naman. Kayo lahat ngayon ang ipadala ko. Ibalik ko dito ‘yung…

Payag naman siguro kayo? Payag kayo o hindi? [troops answers: “Yes, sir!”] Ganyan gusto ko, ‘yan ang tama. Cover kaagad, huwag masyado kayong tapang-tapangan, harap-harapan. Tago dito, tago doon hanggang dumating ka sa ano…

Well, anyway, that is really a far-fetched idea, but it can happen. But the way it’s being evolving now, I think that it will be a matter of days. This ah… Before the end of the month, matatapos na ‘yan.

We are winning the war. Do not worry. Ang ano lang kasi, have you been to ma… Marami sa inyo nagpunta ng Marawi? Taas kasi sila eh. So tayo, uphill. Nakaposisyon na ‘yung snipers nila, ‘yung mga Barrett. So practically we ha — we were in open country. So, every building was occupied with one or two… So, naparami ‘yung casualties natin. It was not really in an even environment that government forces who was there fighting.

So, I’m really very sad. I am sorry to everybody lalo na sa mga civilians sa Marawi, nadamay sila. And I said, but more than anybody else, ako ‘yung nasasaktan talaga. I was the one who ordered to implement martial law.
Kung hindi ko naman gawin, I would be guilty of a violation of the Constitution. Eh may mandate ako eh na pagka ganon let’s say crisis, it’s getting out of proportion already, the recourse of martial law is there. So ako ang maipit. Ayaw ko pero, it chances lahat na.

So, wala naman akong masabi, ayaw kong basahin ‘to. Wala naman kasing… But… I’ll just read ah — in fairness also to the guy that prepared the speech.

The government is ever thankful for the service that you selflessly give to our country.

In this light, logistical support has been given to our police forces to ensure they have adequate provision to perform their duties as well.

Ah, alam mo, hindi ko naman sinisiraan ang — mga tatlong buwan lang ako Presidente, I went to V. Luna and to my horror, walang — walang MRI, walang bari— baric. Baric is the chamber ah — ‘yung nagda-dive na may bends, doon ka sa chamber. But that is also helpful when you are — ma-extricate ka after one day, two days, may sugat ka, gangrene sets in. ‘Pag ipasok ka doon, high-pressure, it can arrest and even stop gangrene immediately.

So meron na kayo niyan, binili ko lahat. And you can use the — my two Presidential planes, ‘yung mataba pati ‘yung isa, ipinapagamit ko na. ‘Yun ang sinasakyan ng mga sundalo na wounded. It’s being used as a shuttle now.
Sabi ko, may commercial naman ako. I can use… Mas kailangan ng mga sundalo natin. But you can rest assured na you will have the best. You will have the best of everything.

And by next year, December malaman na ninyo ‘yan, next year January doblado na ang sweldo ninyo. [applause] Nagi-increase kayo, ‘di lang niyo maki… Tingnan niyo ‘yung paycheck ninyo, every month nagda — nagtataas-taas. Pagdating ng January niyan, the whole amount, covered na.

So, tapos I have increased your ah… Saan na ba ‘yun… Nawala man. An increase from ah… Saan ‘yung ano, ‘yung briefer ko? From 300, ginawa kong 3,000 ata. Dinoble-doble ko. At tsaka, lahat na.

And ah, ako, meron na sana akong… I promised you that I will leave you, before my term ends, a trust fund of P50 billion para kunan ‘yun. Hindi ‘yung sa namatay ganon. Patay ka buhay ‘yung para lang sa edukasyon sa mga bata. Just to make sure kung kulangin ‘yung inyong madis — ‘yung mga benefits ninyo after you retire, you can apply in — sa dito sa ano, ‘yung mga kulang.

Alam mo, I do not want to mention it, but you retire at the age of 56, it’s really very early. By that time, mga anak ninyo nandiyan ‘yan sa college pa. Now if you have about four, ah patay. Kaya medyo limitahan ninyo. Two, three, okay na ‘yan.

At tsaka kung ano kasi kung sa college maski na libre, ‘yung mga libro, uniporme. So 50 billion sa interes lang ‘yan, hindi ninyo na… Kaya na. Kaya sa numero ninyo ngayon. You can have an entity where you can borrow and…

Sa hospital ninyo, lahat. Sa Jolo, bago lahat ang ano. Pati… I think they already have an MRI. It was donated by Ramon Ang. Dito naman sa Cagayan, binili… I gave them 30 plus 17 para equipments.

Dito, I will also make a hospital here. Same equipments para hindi na kayo mag-ano. But dito, wala kayong problema. If you suffer a wound, sagot ng gobyerno. You have a ward there for — magpagawa ako ng isang ward for military and police lang.

Puro na kayo may mga armas, lahat. Kung wala kayong trabaho sa mga munisipyo, ‘pag day-off ninyo, labas kayo, happy-happy. Kay ang mga Army rin mga buang maglabas man rin. So may armas na kayo, ‘pag hindi makaagaw ng microphone, magbarilan. Eh ‘di tabla kayo.

Ganun ‘yan eh. So just be aware of the… Kagaya ng… Ako, itinuro dito noon. I forgot the General who gave us the… Mga sundalo dito, and he was here. Ang sabi nga niya ano, “Bago kayo maglabas ng bahay, kung balik ito talagang mga sparrow-sparrow…”

Basta may maglakad-lakad diyan o mag-istambay sa mga tindahan, tingnan mo muna. Tapos lalabas, labas na… Lalo na dito, ‘yung isa tapos may isa dito wala ginawa kundi mag…

If suddenly, they change position paglabas mo, bantay ka na. Kagaya ng isang pulis. Sige, tingin-tingin ‘yung tao. ‘Yung ano… Sabi ng pulis, “P****i**, pinag-aralan ako nito ah.” Kasi dalawa eh. At tsaka suroy-suroy na ang buang, paglabas, binaril kaagad ‘yung isa.

Buti’t hindi namatay. Eh sabi niya, “Bakit ka ano… Bakit niyo ko pinagpaplanuhan?” Sabi kaagad nung binaril niya, “Hindi man ikaw, sir, naghahanap lang kami doon ng appliance na hindi nakabayad ‘yung address kasi i-repossess na.” [laughter] Akala niya NPA, binaril kaagad. Ah ‘di okay na lang. Eh kaysa kung totoong NPA nga.

But they are not organized anymore. Kanya-kanya. At no other time in the history ng ano, there are so many surrenderees. Marami nang nag-surrender.

But bilib ako doon, nabasa ko ‘yung briefer na you were able to call on time, and you responded. And you were able to get three of them? Three ba ‘yung napatay? I would like to congratulate you.

And you deserve the medal. Saan ‘yung medal mo? Nawala man. Nahulog? Bigyan mo ng medal. Ah, sa ano ‘to. Eh papagawaan kita ng bago. [laughter]

Hindi talaga maggawa ako. I am just asking for permission from the — from the higher authorities.

Eh ‘yung akin ano, it’s a… Pero nagpapagawa ako nang maganda. Maganda ‘yung akin ‘yung gumagawa ng singsing namin sa college ring. Suarez. Taga-Cebu ‘yan eh. Siya ang ipinagawa ko. Meron na akong ano… For additional. Para magbako ka gud kay daghan na kaayong medalya. [laughter] Hindi na maigo sa bala, nakaana na eh.[laughter]

Just to show my gratitude to you for what you are doing to the country.

Anyway lahat naman kayo, ‘wag kayong mag-ano, if there’s a problem ‘wag mag-init ng ulo.
Just tell your commander or you keep in touch with Bong and you tell him the problem, and I will solve the problem for you.

Wala man tayong problema dito. Kung pera-pera lang eh ‘di mag-hanap tayo. Kadali mag-holdup diyan. [laughter]

But during my time, I will take care of you. At ang sinabi ko, do not be afraid to implement the laws of the land.

You have been… You have been there for PNP for years, PMAer or ‘yung iba basic two years. You were lectured of when to arrest, when to shoot, when not to shoot.

‘Wag kayong mag-ano. If you think that you are in danger or your life is in jeopardy, you’re losing — you’re about to — ‘yung preservation instinct.

Dalawa ‘yan: Performance of duty and self-preservation. Defense, self-defense.

Sabi nitong — hindi man maniwala ito sila na wala man tayo pinatay na nakataas ‘yung kamay na nakatali ‘yung… Hindi man natin trabaho ‘yan.

What for? Mas gusto ko ngang makulong eh para mag-sakripisyo. But your… Your primary concern is really the neighborhood and the city.

But do not be afraid, mas may training tayo sa kanila at mas mautak kayo.

Hindi tayo matata… Manalo tayo diyan. A few more days and we will prevail in Marawi. Do not worry.

But I have… I give you the assurance that you will be protected and I will be there to help you.

At least during my time, wala kayong masabi sa akin ha.

Maraming salamat po. [applause]

—END—