Duterte contradicts earlier statement to bomb Marawi mosque

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said that he advised the military against bombing a mosque in Marawi City where Islamist fighters were believed to be holding dozens of hostages, a remark that contradicts a statement he gave early this week giving the Armed Forces the option to attack the Muslim place of worship to end the siege already more than 100 days old.

Duterte on Wednesday said that during his last visit to Marawi, the country’s only Islamic city, he told the military that bombing the mosque was up to them as the country could not afford to have a stalemate for a long period of time.

“Yung the last time I was there, that would be around five days ago, six days ago, I finally said na ano, ‘The option is already yours because we cannot have a stalemate for over one year,’” he said in a speech.

The president also detailed that night his earlier apprehension over the bombing of the mosque as it could fuel anger among the town’s residents who were already resentful because their property and houses had already been destroyed by the AFP’s air and ground assaults.

He said such an offensive would virtually sacrifice the lives of the hostages still in Maute’s hands.

“Matagal na ‘yan sa on deck na talagang gusto bobombahin ang mosque to capture or kill the leaders there and in the process, sacrifice 'yung mga hostage who are all Filipinos, maybe Maranaos and a mingling of Christians, Tagalog, nandiyan. Kung gusto na nilang lusubin noon, sabi ko, "Ayaw ko'," the president said.

As Muslims celebrate their Feast of the Sacrifice, one of their holiest celebrations, on Friday, Duterte swung back to his previous position on the issue, this time in front of the soldiers of the Eastern Mindanao Command.

Duterte said that that he had been consistently against the bombing even if he had left the crafting of the military strategy with the AFP’s generals and commanders.

He said that he had told the military’s generals that bombing the mosque would foment hatred among the resident already reeling from the displacement caused by the most serious security problem to confront Duterte so far.

The military also could not sacrifice the welfare of the civilians, Duterte claimed to have told his generals.

“Sinabi ko sa mga top echelons we cannot destroy the mosques because that will forever wala na katapusan ang hatred dyan,” he told soldiers. “But what will give us in terms of good will? We would have wounded the feelings of the entire Muslim world.”

The president also discussed how he grieved over reports of deaths of military personnel every night, saying that it was difficult for him to face families left behind by men killed in the conflict.

He said: “Ako yung nandun, ako yung sinasalubong ng yakap pati iyak.”

The chief executive also challenged his critics who had been advocating a different approach to the conflict labeled by one expert as the most serious terror event to have struck Southeast Asia in the past 15 years.

“I hope the time will come na sila talaga. Tingnan natin kung maganda yang suggestion nila. There is another way to fight ISIS let alone Maute,” he said, describing the radical group as an organization “geared to the destruction of mankind.”

The conflict in Marawi has highlighted the security challenge the Philippines and its neighboring countries face as the specter of a so-called Islamic State province looms in the horizon.

It has also highlighted the deficiency of the Philippine military, especially in waging urban warfare, according to a regional security expert, as well as the possibility of more fighters joining the rebellion as the credibility of Isnilon Hapilon, the group’s appointed regional leader, is enhanced.