PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte should have to be "more authoritative" to ensure the safety and security of the Filipino people, a Palace official said Saturday.
In an interview with dzRB, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella played down the claim of the international group Human Rights Watch (HRW) that Duterte is encouraging war crimes in the country.
"We are fighting for the existence and for the life of the nation. Some may have not understood it because they are developed, their situation is different, and their borders are single while we have so many borders and are porous," Abella said.
"That's why our leader, whoever he is, needs to be more authoritative. That's how it is. But our President really aims to bring peace in the country," he added.
Carlos Conde, researcher for the Asia Division of HRW, on Friday said the President is inciting war crimes by government forces when he ordered to bolster its fight against the New People's Army (NPA).
Duterte had instructed the government security forces to wage a war against NPA, following ambush slay of four policemen in Davao del Sur.
Conde had said Duterte's order would only cause "civilian loss greater than the expected military gain."
But Abella said the Chief Executive only wanted to use all available assets to ensure successful military offense against the NPA bandits.
"We have to use all the capacity given to us in order to fight [rebels] because first and foremost, the crime that's happening in different parts of the Philippines is a different kind," he said. (SunStar Philippines)