Duterte on reported backchannel talks with Mautes: Impossible

MANILA, Philippines -- President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday denied initiating talks with the Maute group to end the Marawi crisis as he stressed that he would never negotiate with terrorists.

Duterte said many soldiers and police officers have died since fighting erupted in Marawi in May so the situation should not be taken lightly.

 “I never talked to terrorists…I would never talk to criminals and terrorists but I will talk to revolutionaries who are imbued with principles,” the president told reporters in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

“Marami na akong patay na sundalo pati pulis. Huwag nila ako biruin na storya storya lang tayo (Many of my soldiers and policemen have died. Do not fool around with me). If there has to be peace, it would really be peace...let us finish this once and for all,” he added.

Asked if there were efforts to initiate talks with the Mautes, Duterte said: “Well, MI (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) and MN (Moro National Liberation Front) probably have started initiatives there but if it would come from me, that I will ask something from criminals and terrorists, that’s impossible.”

READ: Duterte says he will befriend Maute militants

Duterte also called Muslim leader Agakhan Sharief, who claimed that an aide of the president tried to hold backchannel talks with the Mautes, a “pretender.”

Earlier, Reuters reported that Duterte was preparing to forge a deal with the Maute terrorists but abandoned the plan without explanation. Sharief told the news agency that he was approached by a senior aide of Duterte to use his connections with the Mautes to begin backchannel talks.

According to the report, the process was halted after Duterte declared last May 31 that he would not talk to terrorists.

Last month, Duterte revealed that he was advised to talk to the Mautes but he refused.

“Iyong casualties natin medyo mabigat. Kaya sabi nila na mag-usap iyong nanay ni Maute (We suffered heavy casualties so they said I should talk to the mother of the Mautes).  Sabi ko (I said) ‘No, I will not,’” the President told Army troops in Tacurong City last June 7.

“I will not talk anymore because many of my soldiers have died. Many of my policemen have died. Son of a b****, do not fool me with those talks. Not anymore,” he added.

“Pag naubos silang lahat diyan (Once they are all dead), then I will talk to the new generation. I said we are all Maranaos so let’s talk sincerely.” 

It was not clear who advised Duterte to talk to Ominta "Farhana" Romato-Maute, the mother of the Maute group leaders Oman and Abdulla. Farhana was arrested in Lanao del Sur last June 9, three days after Maute patriarch Cayamora was nabbed in Davao City.

Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said there were no verified reports that there were efforts to initiate negotiations.

“The position of the Palace and the President is not to negotiate with terrorists, including these local terrorist groups, which had intended to establish a state within the Philippine state and to remove allegiance to the government of the Philippines and the Chief Executive of the City of Marawi and its residents,” Abella said in a press briefing in Malacañang.

“Because this constitutes rebellion, because they submit to a foreign leader, and hold to a dangerous ideology that is inimical to the well- being of all Filipinos, including Muslim Filipinos,” he added. 

Abella stressed that Duterte is against “what is criminal, corrupt, and dangerous” to the Filipino people and the next generation.