Martial law to stay in Mindanao – Rody

‘Until last terrorist dead’

MANILA, Philippines — Despite the liberation of Marawi City, Mindanao will remain under martial law until the last terrorist is killed, President Duterte said last night.

“I declared martial law. Everybody is asking when it will stop. It will not stop until the last terrorist is taken out,” Duterte told the 43rd Philippine Business Conference in Manila.

Duterte said the Islamic State-inspired Maute terrorists could still launch retaliatory attacks against government forces conducting clearing operations in the battle area.

“Be careful of retaliation. We know and I know it’s coming. When, we really do not know,” he said.

Isnilon Hapilon and Omar Maute, leaders of the terrorists who laid siege to Marawi last May 23, were killed in an early morning raid last Monday, a development seen as a major setback to extremists in the region.

The siege, which officials said was funded by narcotics money, prompted the President to place Mindanao under martial law.

Officials claimed that politicians involved in the illegal drug trade conspired with the Islamist militants to stage a rebellion against the Duterte administration.

Critics and human rights groups have expressed concern that military rule would pave way to abusive practices and suppression of liberties.

A day after the death of Hapilon and Maute, Duterte declared that Marawi has been liberated from the influence of terrorists, allowing the government to shift its focus to rehabilitating the city.

Some sectors have asked Duterte to lift martial law now that security forces have eliminated the leaders of the bandits.

But the military said martial law is still needed to curb terrorist networks in other parts of Mindanao like Basilan and Sulu.

Duterte said he declared martial law to finish the threat posed by the IS militants.

“The siege of Marawi is purely ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). That’s why I declared martial law and I said we have to finish this or we go kaput,” he said.

“Time and again, I told the Filipino people the rebellion, ISIS, is coming in and it is funded by shabu,” he added.

A total of 847 militants, 163 government troopers and 47 civilians have died since the siege started last May. The crisis also displaced 78,466 families or 359,680 persons.

Duterte thanked China, the United States and Israel for supporting the government’s anti-terrorism campaign in Marawi.

He also informed Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua that Chinese rifles killed Hapilon and Maute, a claim disputed by some websites on defense equipment.

The cleanup

War might still be raging in the ruins of this city, but the cleanup has already begun.

Under guard of dozens of police and soldiers, about 100 of the 200,000 residents driven from their homes during 150 days of fighting have returned to start what will be a massive operation to clear the city of the debris of war.

Army trucks crawled through the deserted streets to take displaced people to safe areas of Marawi, where echoes of gunfire and explosions could still be heard as troops sought to finish off the remaining Maute group militants hemmed into a shrinking battle zone.

They swept away trash, rocks and belongings scattered on streets, among them toys of children who fled when the pro-IS rebels ran amok on May 23, setting buildings ablaze and ransacking churches and schools.

Spray painted on the shutter of one abandoned building reads “Maute ISIS,” a term used for the militant alliance.

“This is very important for the normalization of Marawi because we are responding to the call for them to return back, so we need to prepare,” said Lt. Col. Rosendo Abad, a member of a joint task force in Marawi.

Defense officials said it could take until January before rebuilding can start, with the heart of the city littered with unexploded bombs and booby traps and buildings on the brink of collapse after months of military air strikes.

Military operations have cost P5 billion and the government estimates it could cost 10 times that much to rebuild Marawi.

The government on Tuesday said 20-year “patriotic bonds” would be sold to generate P30 billion.

Australia, the United States, Singapore, Russia, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are among the countries and organizations that have offered to help.

But already close to the front lines of the effort is China, which has donated 47 heavy-duty industrial vehicles, among them excavators, bulldozers, tractors, cement mixers and dump trucks.

Those vehicles are on standby at the port in Iligan City, waiting for the guns to finally go silent before starting the task of restoring the country’s only designated Islamic City.

Omarshariff Yassin, an engineer in charge of equipment at the Department of Public Works and Highways, said there was enough skilled manpower, but a lack of machinery.

“Before the Chinese equipment arrived, we have 15 equipment in use. We have 17 units on standby,” Yassin said.

“The more, the better. What’s happening is we lack equipment so we borrow from other regions. But we really need more,” he said.

The sources

In Manila’s Congress, a lawmaker suggested the government should tap millions of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as a source of funding for the rehabilitation of Marawi City.

“The budget requirements for rebuilding Marawi are simply too big to be loaded on the national budget in one or a few tranches. Reconstruction bonds are really the way to spread out the cost over many years while getting the funds in the present and near term. We need those funds soon, not later,” Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo said.

“The bonds the government plans to float will give local and foreign investors the opportunity to be direct stakeholders in the future of Marawi, Mindanao and in peace and progress for the whole country,” he said.

He suggested that bonds in small denominations could be offered to small Filipino investors, including OFWs.

Salo noted that companies that go on initial public offerings or list their shares in the stock exchange allocate a portion of such shares to small investors in denominations as low as P5,000.

He said the government should offer attractive terms to entice potential investors.

Other lawmakers proposed that Congress should create a body that would oversee the reconstruction of the war-devastated city.

Alternatively, they said the President could appoint an officer with Cabinet rank, similar to what then president Benigno Aquino III did to then former senator Panfilo Lacson in the reconstruction efforts of regions struck by Super Typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas.

Salo’s colleague Rep. Harry Roque said President Duterte should certify as urgent a bill in the House of Representatives that will pave the way for the rebuilding and rehabilitation of Marawi City.

“The Tindeg Marawi Bill appropriates P10 billion as supplemental budget specifically earmarked for Marawi City in order to expedite its recovery from the ruins of war and return to ordinary civilian life,” Roque said.

Roque has filed two measures – House Bills 5874 (Tindeg Marawi) and 222 (Rights of Internally Displaced Persons Act) – to start the rebuilding of Marawi and its inhabitants.

“The IDP Rights Act, meanwhile, seeks to provide for the protection of rights of IDPs during and after displacement, as well as their return, local integration or resettlement elsewhere,” Roque added.

“After almost 150 days, the conflict in Marawi is, finally, almost at an end. I urge the President to certify these two bills as urgent to help people of Marawi get back on their feet and start building back their lives and communities once the tensions ebb,” he said.

The funds provided by HB 5874 shall be used to provide humanitarian assistance to victims of the siege of Marawi City and for the rehabilitation of destroyed infrastructure, properties and businesses.

Administration lawmakers expressed support for efforts to rehabilitate Marawi and promised full cooperation and financial assistance.

“With the death of the two top terror leaders in the area and our impending victory, we can slowly but surely refocus our energies into rebuilding Marawi. Our troops are expected to stay put for this new mission,” Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles said.

Nograles’ brother Jericho, of the party-list Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta, said the death of two of the country’s most notorious terrorists should now jumpstart a massive and well-organized reconstruction effort to rebuild Marawi City.

Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas appealed to Filipinos to support the government in rebuilding Marawi City.

“The most difficult part of ending is beginning again,” he said, as he expressed full backing to the plan of the administration to provide a budget amounting to billions for the immediate rehabilitation of the war-torn city.

Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo expressed her respect for the troops in the battle for Marawi.

“We salute and pay homage to the troops of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, particularly to those 163 heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for the liberation of Marawi,” Teo said.

“Our government has proven that it can contain and eliminate any threat to peace and order, and ensure that the country remain a safe place to live and visit.”

The University of the Philippines-Los Baños (UPLB) has created a task force to assess possible relocation areas and survey the immediate need for agricultural resources and livelihood training of residents.

The UPLB task force will coordinate with the Department of Agriculture for the supply and transport of nutritional food supplements to displaced residents in the beleaguered city. – Jess Diaz, Delon Porcalla, Rudy Fernandez, Catherine Talavera, Gerry Lee-Gorit