The ultimate defeat of the Maute terrorists
October 16, 2017 will forever be etched in the memories of the soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for it is the day that finally the infamous Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon (who has a US$5 million bounty on his head) and the Maute terror group's acknowledged head Omarkhayam Maute were killed one after the other in separate locations by the elite Army Scout Ranger snipers using long-range rifles fitted with night-vision scopes.
An obviously elated Malacañang hailed the deaths of these two terrorist leaders as a "clear victory against terrorism." But I laud the statement of Pres. Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte that there will be no celebration of this stunning victory by the AFP and rightly so, there are still a few stragglers left inside their positions within a few meters inside Marawi City still with an undetermined number of hostages.
While we are a Christian nation and should not celebrate the death of persons, even those whom we call evil, the entire Filipino nation is still ecstatic that finally at the expense of the lives of 162 government forces and 47 civilians, the siege of Marawi City will soon be ending simply because their leaders are already enjoying the 72 virgins that they are expecting as their reward in heaven for their Jihad!
At the start of this ISIS-inspired occupation of Marawi City 148 days ago, major TV networks like CNN, BBC, or Al Jazeera gave prominence to this news that the ISIS threat had now entered Southeast Asia via the Philippines through Marawi City. Last night, I waited eagerly for any reports on the death of these two terrorist leaders allied with ISIS, but CNN, BBC or Al Jazeera had nothing. Sure, CNN Philippines gave it a hefty coverage, but clearly the main CNN news didn't give a hoot! Since May 23 when the Maute terror group occupied Marawi City the AFP has killed some 824 terrorists. Proudly, Filipino soldiers are now veterans in urban warfare aside from being masters in jungle fighting.
Meanwhile, as I pointed out, Hapilon has a $5-million bounty on his head from way back that time he abducted foreign tourists in a Malaysian Resort. Because he had eluded capture by security forces, he was anointed with the Title "Emir of the IS Caliphate in Southeast Asia", a caliphate that is in total ruin.
The Philippine Army's 8th Scout Ranger Company found the remains of the two terror leaders in separate locations, and with the two dead terrorists were more than a dozen gunmen killed in battle in the past days by the elite Rangers, who reportedly used remote-controlled devices to locate the militants' exact locations.
Meanwhile, another high-profile militant who is still in the main battle area in Marawi is Malaysian Dr. Mahmud Ahmad, reportedly a recruiter and financier of IS in the Philippines, he is reportedly accompanied by eight other foreign terrorists -mostly Indonesians and Malaysians still inside Marawi City. This could only mean that this fight isn't over until it is over. For sure that Malaysian terrorist would fight to the death. After all these people believe that in dying for their cause, they get Allah's reward.
Incidentally, the front page photo of Manila Bulletin the other day showed an aerial photo of Marawi City from Lake Lanao and you cannot imagine how this war has devastated more than 70 percent of Marawi City. With this war winding down, it is incumbent upon the Philippine government to spend some P16 billion to rehabilitate Marawi City. This brings us the question, would our Muslim neighbors and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations pitch in to help rehabilitate Marawi? Yes, I'm referring to Malaysia and Indonesia whose sons of terror are still in Marawi finishing their job of destruction.
Mind you, P16 billion isn't exactly peanuts and I'm sure that our Muslim neighbors would be charitable to our Muslim community. But if these governments are wary of donating money to the Philippines, it could only be because of the donated money for super typhoon Yolanda, which until now has remained unaccounted for by the previous Aquino Regime. It is time for Duterte to task the former president to account for these missing funds.
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