[THREAD]: Regarding #OUSTDUTERTENOW

I have read the transcript of this speech and from what I understand is that President Duterte was addressing the “Left” (the communists; the NPA) not ordinary Filipinos. Some netizens may have taken the speech out of context.

There has been an agreed ceasefire between the Philippine government and the NPA (communists, which are commonly called “Red” or “Left”). That was what the president was referring to.

This ceasefire was not honored by the NPA (New People’s Army, the communist group of the Philippines, aka “Left” “Red”). The NPA continued to ambush soldiers in Rizal. This prompted the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) to act.

During the speech, the President has repeatedly emphasized that he was addressing the NPA (“Red” “Left”, names commonly used for the communist movement). The NPA aims to take over the government via rebellions and use the ideology of communism to rule the Philippines.

Hence, the president was prompted to say “You are not the government,” which means that communism does NOT rule the Philippines.

This part of the speech is still referring to the NPA (“the Left,” “the Red”)

At this part, we can now say that The President is now referring to ordinary Filipino citizens. No longer the NPA. At this part, you can see that he did not say that ordinary citizens will be shot. “Shoot them dead, when lives are at risk” was in relation to NPA.

At this part, the President warns that there will be consequences when curfew is not followed. “Taong bastos” or citizens doing unruly behavior will be dealt with accordingly.

President Duterte accuses NPA of “slamming the distribution” of money & food, which prompted him to say “Shoot them [NPA] dead, when lives of soldiers are at risk.” NPA has a history of ambushing military & police. Recently, a soldier was killed because NPA has ignored ceasefire

“Left” and “Right” are political terms that originate way back during the French Revolution. I can post a detailed lecture of it here but it will already be too lengthy. You may google it and have access to all the sources you need.

The President stated that when SOLDIERS’ LIVES ARE AT RISK, he gives the order to “shoot them [the NPA] dead”. May be equivalent to self-defense.

Let me be clear that this Twitter account operates in a non-biased and objective manner. The Free Folk has no blind loyalty to any political parties. We give credit when credit is due. We give discredit when discredit is due. We believe facts unite people.

One main concern about this speech by the President is that he may easily label any person as a leftist (“left” “red”; communist). That’s why clarity during presscon is important. Who exactly are the “left” people? Is it the NPA or ordinary Filipino? This should be made clear.

In the speech, the President has stated that the “Left” he is referring to are those who “slamming the distribution” of money and food during the COVID19 pandemic. So we see here that he is referring to the NPA, not the ordinary Filipino people.