DND admits lack of intel validation on Marawi siege

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that there was a lack of validation on the government side regarding intelligence reports on the siege in Marawi City.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have earlier warned the Philippines of the possible presence of ISIS-inspired local terror groups in the country, according to a report from UNTV.

Lorenzana said that the incident in Marawi City would serve as a lesson for the Department of National Defense and the military to validate intelligence reports.

"Maybe what we can do in the future is restudy what we are doing [in the] intelligence sector... so that we can be better prepared if something like this happens again," Lorenzana said.

The Defense chief noted that the forces on the ground monitoring Marawi failed to identify unfamiliar faces entering the city.

Due to the lack of validation of such reports, the Maute group was able to prepare its attack on the city and were able to bring in high-powered firearms.

Lorenzana, however, said that the government is more focused on fighting against the Maute-ISIS group to start the rehabilitation in Marawi.

"The time of blaming somebody or pointing somebody is past that, ito na nga nangyari. We can no longer bring back the lives of those 110 people killed, 900 wounded," Lorenzana said.

On May 23, President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law and suspended the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao following a clash between government troops and the Maute group.

Last weekend, the Congress voted to extend the declaration of martial law in Mindanao until December 31 upon the request of the president. — Patricia Lourdes Viray