MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte said the “series of violent attacks” of the “Maute terrorist group,” including its May 23 mass action in Marawi City aimed at cutting off the area from control of the Philippine government, had prompted him to place the entire island of Mindanao under martial law.
This was contained in a report the President submitted to Congress at 9:55 p.m. of May 25, two days after he made the declaration while in Russia for an official visit.
The eventual goal, he stressed, was for the group to set up a wilayat (province) covering the entire Mindanao for “DAESH” or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), recognition of which it had been courting. The ISIS is known to make it a requirement for local terrorist groups to have a stronghold to be officially recognized, a status that analysts had been saying was needed by the homegrown groups desperate for fresh funding.
The submission of the report together with the official proclamation was a requirement of the Constitution. The declaration is in effect for 60 days.
“Based on various verified intelligence reports from the AFP and the PNP, there exists a strategic mass action of lawless armed groups in Marawi City, seizing public and private facilities, perpetrating killings of government personnel, and committing armed uprising against and open defiance of the government,” it said.
“These activities constitute not simply a display of force, but a clear attempt to establish the groups’ seat of power in Marawi City for their planned establishment of a DAESH wilayat or province covering the entire Mindanao,” it added.
Duterte emphasized in the report the “cutting of vital lines for transportation and power; the recruitment of young Muslims to further expand their ranks and strengthen their force; the armed consolidation of their members throughout Marawi City’ the decimation of a segment of the city population who resist; and the brazen display of DAESH flags” can be gleaned as “clear, pronounced and unmistakable intent to remove Marawi City, and eventually the rest of Mindanao, from its allegiance to the government.”
According to the report, “There exists no doubt that lawless armed groups are attempting to deprive the President of his power, authority, prerogatives within Marawi City as a precedent to spreading their control over the entire Mindanao, in an attempt to undermine his control over executive departments, bureaus, and offices in said area; defeat his mandate to ensure that all laws are faithfully executed; and remove his supervisory power over local governments.”
Based on verified intelligence reports, the President’s report said the Maute group as of end of 2016 has 263 members, who are fully armed and prepared to wage war. It said the group mainly operates in Lanao del Sur, but has “extensive networks and linkages with foreign and local armed groups” such as the Jemaah Islamiyah, Mujahidin Indonesia Timur and the Abu Sayyaf Group.
There are also reports that foreign-based terrorist groups, the ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), in particular, as well as illegal drug money, provide financial and logistical support to the group, according to the document.
“Considering the network and alliance-building activities among terrorist groups, local criminals and lawless armed men, the siege of Marawi City is a vital cog in attaining their long-standing goal: absolute control over the entirety of Mindanao,” the report said.
“These circumstances demand swift and decisive action to ensure the safety and security if the Filipino people and preserve our national integrity,” it added. – With Maricel Halili, News5
Click and watch this video report from News5’s Maricel Halili below:
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