Duterte to visit troops to mark first year as president

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will mark his first year as president doing what has often done in past months: visiting troops in their camps.

 

Speaking in Davao City on Thursday, Duterte said that he will "go tomorrow to visit the camps," but did not disclose which ones he would visit. He said the Presidential Security Group had advised him not to tell anyone where he is going.

 

The president was at Camp Quintin Merecido, the headquarters of Police Regional Office 11, when he made the announcement. He had earlier said that he wanted to go to Marawi City, where security forces are engaged in battle with terrorists from the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups since May 23.

 

Duterte has often visited police and military camps to speak before security personnel. In his first month as president alone, he visited more than a dozen in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

 

In April, the president said that he was inclined to celebrate Philippine Independence Day with troops on Pag-asa Island, which is part of a maritime dispute with China over part of the South China Sea that Manila claims and calls the West Philippine Sea. He later reconsidered the plan "because of our friendship with China and because we value your friendship."

 

He skipped the celebration of Philippine Independence Day on June 12, which fuelled speculations on his health. He has said that he was only resting.