WITH the Islamic State already claiming responsibility for the deadly bombing at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City on Dec 2, authorities should move decisively to arrest the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
Investigators believe the bombing was the handiwork of the Dawlah Islamiyah-Maute Group that operates in Lanao del Sur.
If this suspicion is validated by the arrest of the perpetrators, then the government would do well to adopt a take-no-prisoners approach to end terrorist threat once and for all.
Another group now allied with the Islamic State is the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), a breakaway group of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
With an estimated 3,000 members after they severed ties with the MILF, and intent on pursuing their goal of a separate state through armed struggle, they represent a potent threat to peace and order in southern Philippines.
Every now and then the military and the police are still able to arrest probably inactive Abu Sayyaf members involved in atrocities many years ago.
We don’t really know if the Abu Sayyaf is still able to recruit members at this point, but poverty and social injustice, if not the lure of easy money from ransom payments, could still draw young Muslims to its fold.
How to stop terrorism in Mindanao?
There are no hard and fast answers to a complex problem arising from history and longstanding social divisions.
As a peace and order problem, terrorism requires the military and the police to take a mailed-fist approach to dismantle their organizational structure and logistical network.
But it is also a political and social problem that requires government interventions at the national and local levels.
National government agencies such as those involved in agriculture, trade and industry, labor and social work and development should actively take part in anti-poverty programs in the poorest regions in Mindanao. After all, poverty breeds discontent and rebellion.
The government has succeeded in forging peace agreements with the two biggest separatist movements in Mindanao, namely the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the MILF.
They can help convince those recruited by terrorist groups to renounce violence and go back to the social mainstream.
What is important is for the government to boost economic growth to reduce social inequality, and to deliver vital social services such as education and health to poor communities in southern Philippines.
This will deprive terrorist groups of fertile ground for them to take root and spread their ideology of hate and bloodshed.