Death In Philippines: Duterte Declares War On Islamic State Militants And Drug Dealers As Violence Grows

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte apologized Tuesday for what he deemed a failure on the part of his government in preventing Islamic State group-linked militants from executing a German hostage Sunday. His apology came among two promises of retaliatory violence against groups considered enemies of the state.

Duterte said the military had done it all could to locate 70-year-old sailor Jurgen Gustav Kantner, who had been kidnapped last year by jihadist group Abu Sayyaf, but maintained that Manila should not have given in to the $600,000 ransom demands. Duterte addressed the German government directly, saying, "we have failed. That has to be admitted," and that he was "very sorry," according to Al Jazeera.

That same day, military officials stated they would up the offensive against the radical Islamist militants active in country's restive southern region. Abu Sayyaf has claimed responsibility for numerous acts of terror including bombings, kidnappings and assassinations throughout the Philippines and began hijacking ships last year. The group, which pledged its allegiance to ISIS in 2014, has reportedly earned millions of dollars from taking hostages. Duterte has pledged to eradicate the militants and other jihadist organizations active in the country by force.

Duterte also vowed Tuesday to escalate his war on another one of his adversaries - drug dealers. Duterte announced he would once again utilize police forces in his government's violent campaign against narcotics. Police forces were suspended from drug enforcement operations last month after several officers were involved in a scandal surrounding the alleged kidnapping and killing of a Korean businessman in the country's police headquarters. Duterte said traffickers rejoiced at a "rise of drug activities by 20 percent" and that he authorized Philippines National Police chief Bato del Rosa to enlist qualified young officers in the renewed battle.

“I have ordered Bato to recruit young men in the PNP who are imbued with fervor of patriotism to be the members only of the task forces. Every station should have one, but only select ones, those who don’t have a history of corruption,” Duterte said, according to the Philippines' ABS-CBN News.

Duterte's anti-drug campaign was one of the leader's most enthusiastic promises during his campaign to the presidency in the Philippines last year. He has encouraged the extrajudicial killings of drug dealers by police forces in a nationwide operation that has reportedly killed over 6,000 people, but has remained relatively popular among locals.