MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday spoke with a bulletproof glass panel set up before him during the 1st Presidential Silent Drill Competition at the Quirino Grandstand.

This came after the national security adviser claimed that Duterte was allegedly included in the so-called hit list of communist rebels.

ADVERTISEMENT

But the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founding chair Joma Sison said Duterte’s alleged inclusion in the hit list is just a “malicious psywar” on the part of the government.

In a press briefing in Malacañang on Wednesday, Presidential Security Group Commander Brig. Gen. Jose Eriel Niembra admitted they have intensified security for Duterte following threats from the communist New People’s Army (NPA), the CPP’s armed wing, which will mark its 50th anniversary on December 26.

He also said that Duterte is in the hit list, not only of NPA but by drug lords and other crime syndicates.

Duterte had used the glass panel in his previous speeches.

Niembra had explained that they put up the glass panel to ensure the President’s safety especially in “open areas.”

Edited by KGA

ADVERTISEMENT

Read Next

EDITORS' PICK

MOST READ