Vice President Sara Duterte reiterated her stand to “not show mercy” to the enemies of the state.

Duterte on Monday hosted a sit-down meeting with the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the commanders of the AFP’s major services to solidify the inter-agency linkages to beef up the country’s military defense and pave the way for achieving inclusive development.

“Our objective was to strengthen existing coordination and enhance inter-agency cooperation on issues concerning our national security and the country’s development,” Duterte said.

“Our policy against criminals and terrorists and those that support and espouse their ideologies of violence should be hardline. We should show no mercy to criminals and terrorists,” she added.

Duterte is the designated Officer-in-Charge of the Office of the President as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr is on state visits to Indonesia and Singapore.

She emphasized that the Marcos’ administration is gearing towards economic revival and is “aggressively pursuing programs and projects that will address social inequities and further propel the country’s progress post-pandemic.”

Duterte also underscored that for the country to economically propel, the country must first address the security challenges .

“The Philippines will only be able to truly recover and rebuild post-pandemic and meaningfully stand with honor and pride as a nation if we successfully address threats to our security,” she said. OVP Media