AFP: We ‘similarly’ support PNP’s proposed martial law extension in Mindanao
Police question a two-vehicle convoy of humanitarian volunteers who earlier ignored their checkpoint to rescue residents trapped in the fighting between government troops and Muslim militants who continue to hold their ground in some areas of Marawi city for almost a week Monday, May 29, 2017 in southern Philippines. Philippine forces control most of the southern city where militants linked to the Islamic State group launched a bloody siege nearly a week ago, authorities said Monday, as the army launched airstrikes and went house-to-house to crush areas of resistance. AP/Bullit Marquez
MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Friday said it “similarly” supports the police’s recommendation to retain martial law in Mindanao in order to defeat other violent militant groups operating in the insurgency-plagued southern region.
On May 23, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire region of Mindanao under martial law after Marawi City was stormed by heavily-armed homegrown militants who pledged allegiance to the dreaded Islamic State.
Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy on Thursday said continuing threats from terrorist groups prompted the Philippine National Police to recommend to the president a one-year extension of martial law in Mindanao.
Meanwhile, a source in the AFP said field commanders were convinced of the need for maintaining martial law in Mindanao at least for one year to deprive terrorists of the chance to regroup.
READ: PNP, AFP recommend 1-year extension of Martial Law
In a press conference, Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson for the AFP, said that while he was not privy to the details of proposal, the military’s recommendation to Duterte was to “similarly support” the guidance of the PNP.
But Padilla stressed that the AFP’s recommendation to the commander-in chief was “separate and different” from the one submitted by the police.
“The basis for the extension for the declaration of a martial law previously [is] the many threats that we still face in the island of Mindanao particularly,” the military spokesman told reporters at Malacañang.
The restive island of Mindanao has long history of Muslim separatist rebellion.
In July, Congress overwhelmingly voted to prolong military rule in Mindanao until yearend after the proclamation reached its 60-day constitutional limit, giving Duterte more time to stabilize the strife-torn region where ISIS was gaining influence.
In a rousing address to troops last October, Duterte declared Marawi City—the only predominantly Muslim city in the mainly Catholic Philippines—liberated from pro-ISIS extremists after five months of fighting that gave state forces their first taste of urban warfare.
But experts had warned that the end to the 148-day Marawi occupation does not finish the security crisis in the southern Philippines as terrorists could radicalize those who were displaced by the fighting.
According to Padilla, militants were using cash rewards in persuading students, children, women and relatives of terrorists who were killed by government forces in Marawi to join them in preparation for future assaults.
Martial law remains a sensitive issue in the Philippines after it was used by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s to perpetuate himself to power.
Opponents feared Duterte might declare a nationwide martial law, but the authorities had repeatedly dismissed that.
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