Duterte orders sustained offensive vs Maute Group
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to sustain its offensive against the Maute Brothers Group as he visited on Wednesday soldiers in Butig, Lanao del Sur despite an explosion that injured members of his advance security team.
"They have to go on with the operations. What is there to stop? No one showed the sincerity, so the fight goes on," Duterte said in an interview in Cagayan de Oro City on Wednesday.
Duterte flew first to Army's 103rd Brigade in Butig town where he presided over a command conference before proceeding to Cagayan de Oro. He visited the wounded soldiers, including members of the Presidential Security Group, in the 4th Infantry Division Hospital and in Polymedic Hospital.
Duterte said as much as possible he did not want to wage war against the Maute Group, a suspect in the blast that rocked a night market in Davao City in September.
"I said I don't want to wage a war against Filipinos but I told them that they have to stop. I hope that we should not reach a point that we have (to declare) war. So I'm doing everything to prevent a war," Duterte said.
Duterte warned the Maute Group not to force him to the limit.
"I don't want to fight with you. I don't want to be engaged in killing, but please do not force my hand because there is a limit in this problem," he said.
"I cannot be forever traveling here every month just to talk and when I turn my back, there's killing again. There has to be a timeline. It could be forever. It could be during my term. It could be beyond my term. But there is certain limit. And when that limit comes, I’ll have to deal with you harshly," said Duterte.
Duterte said if the Maute Group would be inspired by the ISIS, that would be problematic, noting that ISIS does not listen.
"They have their own (belief) and they take orders from outside. How could you be a Maranao here, a Tausug, Maguindanao(an) and you take orders from outside just to fight to what? Won't this end?," he said.
The Maute Group has pledged support to the international terror organization.
On Tuesday, seven personnel of the PSG and two Army soldiers who were part of Duterte's advance team were wounded in an explosion in Marawi City.
But posts on social media by those from Marawi City and Lanao del Sur said there was no attack or ambush against government troopers on Tuesday.
They said if there was such, they were the first one to know because Marawi was just a small city.
There were insinuations this could be a plot to justify suspending the writ of habeas corpus, which Duterte earlier threatened to do if lawlessness continue to persist.
Presidential Communications Office Assistant Secretary Michel Kristian Ablan debunked this allegation as he cautioned the public to verify news they read in social media.
"The government will not sacrifice the lives of our soldiers, you know, for the conspiracy theory that some citizens have been thinking about. So it is a conspiracy theory," Ablan said in a press briefing.
He said there was no discussion among the security members of the Cabinet to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.
He said the authorities have been trying to address the Maute Brothers Group problem, the explosion in Marawi, and the improvised bomb that was discovered near the United States Embassy in Manila.
"Whether or not that merits a suspension (of the writ) is something that only the President can decide on," Ablan said.
Ablan said the state of national emergency is in effect. "The proclamation is there just to make sure that there is security, peace and order around the country," Ablan said.
Duterte has placed the country under the state of national emergency following the deadly explosion in Davao City in September. Celerina Monte/DMS
