PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday night confirmed he had allowed former Marawi City mayor Omar Solitario Ali to negotiate with the terrorist Maute group.
“He was commissioned by [Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Jesus] Dureza. It was with the acquiescence, not expressly, by Secretary [Delfin] Lorenzana,” Duterte told reporters during his visit to wounded soldiers at Camp Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro City.
He made the statement even as Malacañang on Sunday defended the use of Australian soldiers to train the Armed Forces in their fight against the ISIS-inspired Maute Group in Marawi City.
“The Australians, for sometime now, have been providing technical assistance though their P3 Orion aircraft in the ongoing battle against the Daesh-inspired Maute Group still holed up in Marawi,” Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a statement.
“Their assistance helps us increase our situational awareness of the battlefield and helps save lives.
“On the other hand, the sending of Australian Defense Force members to assist our military forces forms part of the offer of Australia to train the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”
Duterte on Saturday visited the Camp Evangelista Station Hospital and conferred medals to 76 military personnel recovering from injuries.
He presented medals to the men who sustained injuries in the government’s fight to liberate Marawi City from the terrorist Maute group.
He also gave each of the awardees a cellular phone, a cash gift and brand-new service firearms.
Duterte’s confirmation was made when asked specifically about Ali, who was included in the arrest order issued by the Defense department against people who have alleged links to the Marawi siege.
Ali is included in Duterte’s list of narco-politicians.
A month after the Marawi siege by the Maute group, police recovered P10 million worth of shabu from the house of the former mayor, who is also accused as a financier of the Maute group.
Duterte said Ali had sent a message expressing his willingness to work with the government in resolving the Marawi crisis.
“He told me, ‘I’m better off working for you than putting me in prison,’” Duterte said.
He said that he met with Dureza and Lorenzana to talk about Ali’s offer.
“Then he proposed many things, mostly about talking peace to the Mautes or bargaining for the hostages,” Duterte said.
He assured Maute group members that they would be properly treated should they decide to surrender.
Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law after the Maute group started its attack on the city on May 23.
More than 130 soldiers, more than 600 Maute members and 45 civilians have been killed in the crisis.
