THE military on Wednesday appealed to netizens to refrain from sharing videos that could fan religious hatred as government forces continued to battle the extremists in Marawi City.
“May I appeal to our social media users and our netizens. There are videos circulating around regarding certain armed elements destroying a church,” Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla told reporters in Malacañang.
“We have requested that these be pulled out because these may fan hatred. It is intended by these militants to induce other Christian elements to fight these armed elements or to sow hatred among Christians and Muslims.”
Padilla asked the public not to be swayed by the plan of the terror groups to inflame religious hatred that could eventually result to sectarian division.
“Right before us, in the last few days were clear examples of compassion, of help between Christians and Muslims, of assistance coming from all sectors. And we are very happy that these are coming out to debunk all these claims and attempts to make this a religious war,” Padilla said.
“This is not a religious war, this is a terror attack on the city of Marawi and we must be clear about it.”
In a propaganda video, extremists were seen destroying the Marawi Cathedral and demolishing Catholic iconography including a crucifix, a statue of St. Joseph and the Risen Christ, as well as two Marian icons. Posters of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI were also torn.
During the attack on May 23 the Maute group members also abducted a Catholic priest and parishioners.
With regard to the more than P52 million recovered in Marawi City, Padilla said an investigation was under way to determine the owner of the money through the help of the banking sector and government regulators.