By Katrina Gracia Consebido
In his taped Talk to the People address, Duterte clarified that “he is not trying to pick a fight with friend Putin,” but lamented the children and the elderly who perished from the war.
“So ‘yung embassy ng Russia, kung nakikinig, I am not picking a quarrel with anybody. I said Putin is a friend of mine. But it is your moral obligation to see to it na the civilians, the innocent ones, children, yung elderly, mga babae… vulnerable masyado sila at hindi sila marunong magtago, nandiyan lang sa bahay nila. Maybe just lock the door and pray to God that it will be a passing episode sa buhay nila, eh namamatay eh,” Duterte said.
“Ako nasasaktan lang ako sa mga inosente talaga. Maraming nagsasabi na pareho daw kami ni Putin nagpapatay. Alam mo gusto ko lang malaman ninyong Pilipino na pumapatay talaga ako. Sinabi ko ‘yan sa inyo noon pa. Pero ang pinapatay ko kriminal. Hindi ako pumapatay ng bata o matanda. Magkaiba ang mundo namin ‘yung nangyayari ngayon sa Russia pati sa Amerika,” he added.
He is hoping that Putin will “control” his military and “spare the civilians in the name of humanity.”
“Dapat pumasok na si Putin, sabihin, huwag ninyong galawin or at least kung may civilians, sabihin mo lang you give them a warning to vacate the place where they are so that they can go to safer grounds. Hindi na ‘yung tira ka nang tira diyan, mahirap ‘yan,” Duterte added. – gb
