ISLAMIST terrorists who went on a rampage in Marawi City said they would kill more than 240 hostages—including women and children—if the military did not stop its offensive against them immediately, a priest held by the gunmen said Wednesday.
In a video posted on Facebook, Fr. Teresito Suganob appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte for help.
At the same time, Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Peña said the Maute group, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State terrorist organization, warned him in a phone call Tuesday that they would kill all their hostages if the military offensive against them continues.
“They want a ceasefire and for the military to give them access out of Marawi. Otherwise, they will kill the hostages,” De la Peña said.
A military spokesman said they would accept a surrender by the Maute group members, but refused to give in to any of its conditions.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the administrator of martial law in Mindanao, ordered the arrest of 125 members of the ISIS-inspired Maute group for rebellion.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, National Bureau of Investigation spokesperson Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin said Lorenzana issued the arrest order on Monday.
Of the 125 Maute members, Lavin said the government has identified the full names of 95 members while 30 carry aliases.
Lavin said the NBI, as well as the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police will help in the arrest.
In the video, Suganob said the militants were demanding a stop to the military offensive against them for the sake of the “prisoners of war.”
“Mr. President, please consider us,” Suganob said in a cracking voice. “They don’t ask for anything… they just ask that you leave this place peacefully.”
“We are in the midst of this war we are asking your help to please give what they are asking for,” he said.
The vicar general of the Marawi prelature said that along with him are about 240 more hostages, including several women and children.
It’s uncertain when the video was taken but it shows Suganob standing in the midst of destroyed houses and vehicles.
The video, showing Suganob in black polo shirt and maong pants, first surfaced on the Facebook account of a certain “Datumasa Khalid.”
“Mr. President, if you want me to kneel before you just to knock your heart in favor of our families who are crying out there in different places, for our relatives… we will do that,” he said.
He also warned that the relentless military offensive will just put the lives of the hostages at risk because the militants are “ready to die for their religion.”
“Mr. President, you can’t use force and violence because they have the commitment they will die for this,” he said as the military campaign against members of the Maute group entered the seventh day.
The Armed Forces said it was still verifying the authenticity of the video.
Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the video seemed authentic, but said experts were still verifying it.
He urged the media to be discerning when reporting such matters, adding that the video was being used for propaganda, and the priest was speaking under duress.
He also said he did not know if the number of hostages was accurate.
“In a situation such as this, especially since they’re fighting for survival, the terrorists will do everything they can to escape,” Padilla said in Filipino.
“It’s likely that they have some civilian hostages that they will use as bargaining chips—including the father,” he added.
Padilla said that while the military is tapping religious leaders and scholars to convince Maute group members to surrender or let go of their hostages, they won’t be giving in to any of their conditions.
“The Muslim leaders have to help in convincing the Muslims holding him not to kill him because he helps not only Christians, but Muslims also,” he said.
“There are many religious leaders on the Muslim side who are interested that Father Chito come out of this alive because they have been working together on many good projects so if he is gone, who will be the connection of the Muslim leaders?” he added.
Padilla said eight members of the group have surrendered so far, and said the military has taken back 90 percent of Marawi City since the terrorists attacked it on May 23.
Quoting Brig. Gen. Custodio Parcon of the Marines, said the terrorists surrendered May 28, and were providing critical information to help the military and the police in their battle against the Maute group.
“These individuals have been talked to and debriefed and have provided very, very valuable intelligence,” said Padilla.
Padilla also said security forces have cleared more than 90 percent of the city, after killing 89 terrorists in a week since Mindanao was put under martial law.
“The remaining are areas of pockets of resistance that are still being kept in the hands of these militants,” Padilla said.
He said Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon could be hiding in the remaining 10 percent still held by the militants.
The AFP again called on more terrorists to surrender.
“Our message is, while you have time, consider deeply to surrender, lay down your arms and let’s just talk. We will treat you humanely,” Padilla said.
He also said martial law in Mindanao was different from the military rule imposed by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s.
“The declaration of the President is very much different from the declaration of long ago. Right now, martial law is implemented not in the fashion of 1972 but in accordance with the 1987 Constitution,” Padilla said.
“Government is dead serious in bringing back peace—longer and sustainable peace—and a good security environment for Mindanao,” he added.
Attack helicopters fired rockets repeatedly on Wednesday morning into the pockets of Marawi City where the militants were hiding among trapped residents, according to an Agence France-Presse reporter who was following troops searching houses.
The clashes erupted on Tuesday last week when gunmen waving black flags of the Islamic States group rampaged through the mostly Muslim-populated city in response to an effort by security forces to arrest Hapilon, who is on the US government’s list of most-wanted terrorists.
Hapilon escaped but he was still believed to be in Marawi, Padilla said.
He said the military was making “very positive” progress towards ending the crisis, which had also seen 21 security forces and 19 civilians killed.
However, Padilla acknowledged there were many residents still trapped in the 10 percent of the city that the gunmen were controlling, and that troops would likely meet increasingly strong resistance there.
“That 10 percent is most likely the area that is heavily guarded and defended by any armed men if they are protecting any individual of high value,” Padilla said.
Padilla said he did not know how many militants remained.
He said they had been reinforced by prisoners who escaped from two jails during the initial rampage, and “sympathizers” of the militants.
There were more than 2,000 residents still trapped in areas of Marawi held by the militants, Zia Alonto Adiong, spokesman for the provincial crisis management committee, said.
The militants also took a priest and up to 14 other people hostage at the start of the crisis.
A military source said Hapilon had reportedly sought medical treaement in Marawi after he was wounded in January during a military offensive against the Maute Group in Butig, Lanao del Sur.
Hapilon was among 60 hardcore terrorists who left Basilan for the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur after suffering losses from a military search-and-destroy operation in the province where he was wounded.
Included in his group were dozens of foreign terrorists—Indonesians, Malaysians and some Caucasian looking nationals. Hapilon’s group eventually joined force with ASG chieftain Radullan Sahiron in Lanao del Sur, just a few kilometers from Marawi City.
Reports said the ASG, the top Islamic State unit in the country, has established an alliance with the Maute Group to further their terrorism in Mindanao as part of the ISIS plan to put up a regional cell or province in Southeast Asia.
At least six foreign terrorists were killed in the Marawi City fighting.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana had earlier predicted that Marawi would be free of Maute bandits by June 2.
Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman of the 1st Infantry Division ,said troops are still battling some 30 to 40 bandits who are still holed up in villages outside of Marawi City.
Others have escaped with civilians.
The Naval Forces Western Mindanao Command, meanwhile, has sent two more shiploads of Marines to help drive out the Maute Group terrrorists.
Lt. Junior Grade Maycee Ann Angga, the command’s acting public affairs chief, said the BRP Waray and BRP Ivatan left Monday at Ensign Majini Pier in Calarian, Zamboanga City with the Marines onboard.
The soldiers have with them K9 units to help in the search and destroy operations in Marawi.
Angga added that the Navy vessels also brought relief for the affected population.
At least six members of the Marawi City police were reported missing in action in the ongoing fighting .
“We have six policemen that could not be accounted and remain missing. They are members of the local police in Marawi City that cannot be contacted until now,” said PNP chief Ronald Dela Rosa.
The Department of Health said for security reasons, the PNP and not the department, is stasked to provide health care services in war-torn Marawi City. With Rio N. Araja