There are three conclusions one can draw from the ongoing war in Marawi. One, ISIS or Islamic State is now in the Philippines. Two, IS terrorism is funded and fueled by drug money. Three, martial law is the answer to either or both drugs and terrorism. Can martial law work against drugs and terrorism? It is too early to say yes or no.
There are three things where martial law, with its shock and awe effect, can be a big help—solving Metro Manila’s traffic, especially on Edsa, speeding up infra build-up (army engineers are probably better at roadwork), and reducing graft and incompetence. The army can arrest the corrupt, bring them before courts whose judges will be intimidated into action, and probably, in cases of plunder, shoot the guilty by firing squad.
Some 1,487 kilometers southwest of Manila, Marawi is an ancient Muslim lakeside settlement dating back to 1639. It became a chartered city in 1940. Its population has always been majority Maranao Muslim. Brought by an Arab trader, Karim Makhdum in 1380 (14th century), Islam is the oldest religion in the country and pre-dated the 1521 Spanish invasion to Christianize the Philippine archipelago. Waves of colonizers, from Spain (377 years), United States (50 years), and Japan (four years), failed to subjugate the fiercely independent Muslim Filipinos.
Fast forward to the 21st century. “You can say that the ISIS is here already,” Duterte told his officers and soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Friday, May 26, 2017, in Iligan, Lanao del Sur, on the fourth day of the fighting in Marawi, and of his imposition of martial law on the entire island of Mindano.
Duterte sees the ongoing Marawi siege as an aftermath of the Maute criminal group growing rich with drugs money. “Terrorism in the Philippines is funded and fueled by drug money,” the President declared on Wednesday, May 31, addressing the 119th founding anniversary of the Philippine Navy in Sasa, Davao. Marawi itself had turned into a center of shabu (methamphetamine) production. Funding had to come from drugs, Duterte explained in Tagalog, “because there isn’t that much money coming from IS (Islamic State) from the Middle East.”
The situation has deteriorated to a point where even Manila has been flooded with illicit drugs and drastic measures were needed to stop the scourge.
“Of course, it would cost lives. You cannot fight a war, especially drugs, without losing your men and the enemy,” Duterte said.
“And in Marawi now, I’m sad to tell you, we have suffered tremendous losses,” Duterte told the navymen. “Because we are the invading force, and they have been set up there for a long time waiting for the soldiers of the republic to come.”
Some 100 militants of the criminal syndicate Maute group and the kidnap-for-ransom terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group overran two-thirds of Marawi late afternoon of May 23, 2017, a Tuesday. They were reacting to an attempt by army commandos to arrest notorious ASG terrorist leader Isnilon Hapilon. He was allegedly sighted in Marawi, along with Maute group leaders, the brothers Abdullah and Omarkhayam Maute.
The army’s attempt to get Hapilon failed. The militants instead fanned out to various parts of Marawi and engaged troopers in hit and run battle lasting over 10 days now.
Wounded by a military airstrike last January, Hapilon apparently went to Marawi for medical help. He was accompanied initially by some 20 security men who took positions in the hospital, where they raised a black ISIS-style flag at the gate. Sensing their presence, government troops maneuvered for a quick, surgical strike. Confronted by army troops, the Maute summoned reinforcements from their allies and the ASG. Early afternoon of May 23, nearly 50 gunmen managed to enter the city, according to AFP Chief of Staff General Eduardo Año said. They swelled later on to more than 100. For the next 10 days, Maute had effective control of Marawi. The army thinks Hapilon is still in the city.
Duterte cut short his five-day Russia visit and went with his men to Iligan, 37 kms north of Marawi. As the terrorists occupied Marawi, refugees fled to Iligan. By the second day of the fighting, two-thirds of Marawi’s population had emptied out.
On May 23, the first day of the siege, the terrorists raided the Marawi city jail and released 68 of its prisoners after killing its police guards, confiscating cellphones and firearms and vehicles. They raided the police station, set it on fire, and took away a police patrol car. They raided a church and took away a Catholic priest and 14 other hostages. They raided the Amai Pakpak Hospital, held hostage its employees, and raised the ISIS flag. They burned another nearby Filipino-Libyan Friendship Hospital. Three bridges were controlled—Lilod, Bangulo, and Sauiaran. The terrorists set up checkpoints and blockades and house to house checks. They also commandeered a police tank, abandoned by its SAF commandos.
In the next ten days, the army would conduct what it called surgical air strikes or bombings, destroying houses and at least three school buildings. Without the air strikes, ground casualties from the government side mounted. With the air strikes, scores of civilians were killed or wounded and their homes and establishments destroyed as collateral damage. On June 1, ABS-CBN reported 11 soldiers died and seven were wounded by friendly air strikes.
On May 31, the ninth day of fighting, the government reported the death toll– 89 terrorists, 19 civilians, and 21 troopers (32 if you add the soldiers accidentally killed by aircraft fire Wednesday).
Despite AFP claiming to have regained 90 percent of Marawi by the ninth day, the remaining 10 percent in terrorist hands was strategic, in the central part of Marawi, including two bridges that controlled entry into and exit from the city. Thus, it was not clear who was really in clear control.
The army told the terrorists to “surrender or die.” AFP Spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. made the warning as the Maute group members dug in for a long siege reminiscent of the fighting in Alepo, Syria where western troopers have been trying to drive out ISIS insurgents for the past eight months, a situation described by a United Nations official as a “complete breakdown of humanity.”
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