Tag: Mindanao

Maute Group continuing to lose ground in Marawi – PHL military

QUEZON City, Philippines (Eagle News) — The Maute Group is continuing to lose ground in Marawi City. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Eduardo Año said that only a small part — about one to two square kilometers — of the city is under the control of the terrorist group. The AFP records show that only 100 to 120 members of the Maute remain fighting on the ground. In a report […]

President Duterte reiterates gov’t will not talk to Maute, Abu Sayyaf, other terrorists

Says war in Marawi will not stop until last terrorist is “taken out” (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday reiterated the government’s no-negotiation policy with terrorists, noting that the war in Marawi will continue until the last one was “taken out.” “I will never ever talk to the terrorists. There will never be forgiving them,” Duterte said in a speech during ceremonies commemorating the 50th founding anniversary of Davao del Sur in Digos. […]

Mga banana exporter at grower sa Mindanao, nanawagang payagan sila na magkaroon ng armas

Umapela ang isang grupo ng mga negosyante sa Mindanao sa gobyerno na payagan sila na armasan ang kanilang mga security personnel upang maipagtanggol ang kanilang mga plantasyon mula sa pagsalakay ng mga hinihinalang miyembro ng komunistang grupo. Ayon kay Alex Valoria, presidente ng Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, dapat ikunsidera ng Philippine National Police ang naunang desisyon na ideposito sa kanila ang mga armas ng mga security personnel at mga negosyante sa rehiyon. Giit […]

President Duterte says only AFP, PNP can tell him when it is safe to lift martial law

Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte said that he would only lift martial law in Mindanao only when the miltary and those in the know would say that it is time to lift it. In his speech when he accepted the military assistance from China in Clark Air Base in Pampanga, the President said it is only the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police that would be able to say when […]

President Duterte set to visit war-torn Marawi

(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte said he was set to visit Marawi to check the situation there. “I cannot just sit on my a** sa opisina ko. Hirap ang tao doon,” Duterte said in groundbreaking rites of the Presidential Security Group Hospital in Malacanang Park. In his speech, the President said he “really wallow(s) in sorrow” as he was the one who gave the orders for government troops to go to Marawi and fight […]

President Duterte vows to crush Islamist militants; says he is hurt because some cousins joined Maute group

(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to crush the Islamist militants in Marawi who have allowed themselves to be contaminated with an ideology that is radical, brutal and very foreign from the Philippines, and Asia — the Malay people — in general. “Alam mo sa totoo lang, if it was just an uprising, just the mainstream rebellion of the MI(LF) and the MNLF, I can endure a war with you. And I can even […]

Six civilians rescued in Marawi City during 8-hour ceasefire, but 100 hostages still held by extremists

  (Eagle News) — Philippine government forces rescued several civilians, including an infant, trapped in Marawi City on Sunday (June 25) after an eight-hour ceasefire that was held in respect of the end of Ramadan, even as forces confirmed there were still 100 hostages held by Islamist militants. Troops managed to secure six trapped civilians, including one infant, and a cadaver during the eight-hour ceasefire with Islamic State-linked militants who seized parts of Marawi City […]

Abducted priest seen alive in Marawi; AFP verifying reports Hapilon slipped out of city

Agence France Presse — A Roman Catholic priest abducted by Islamist militants who seized parts of a southern Philippine city has been seen alive, the military said Monday, as troops pressed on with their offensive. Air and artillery bombardment of enclaves occupied by the militants in Marawi resumed after an eight-hour truce Sunday to allow Muslims to celebrate the end of the Ramadan fasting month. Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-Ar Herrera said the militants were […]

PHL military says “leadership crisis,” money problems affecting Islamist militants in Marawi City

Gov’t recovers 347 firearms, hundreds of communications equipment from terrorist groups   (Eagle News) — The Philippine military said that they have recovered at least 347 firearms and hundreds of communications equipment from Islamist militants who continue to hold on to a “limited” area of Marawi City, as they announced to the public that there is a leadership crisis in the Islamist terrorists’ group. Task Force Marawi spokesperson Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera said that the […]

Eight-hour truce in Marawi ends

An eight-hour ceasefire in Marawi came to an abrupt end Sunday afternoon as the government continued its offensive against Islamist militants occupying parts of the city. Assaults backed by air and artillery bombardment had stopped at 6am but gunfire broke out as soon as the truce ended around 2pm, AFP reporters in Marawi said. Regional military commander Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez said the truce also allowed five Muslim religious leaders to enter ground zero and […]

Palace still verifying reports that 89 foreign terrorists had entered the country

  (Eagle News) — Malacanang is verifying reports that 89 foreign terrorists have entered the country. Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that foreign terrorists may have entered the backdoor where the point of entry is Mindanao via Indonesia or Malaysia. “This is the purpose why we are making a collective effort against terrorism and violent extremism through a trilateral cooperation with Indonesia and Malaysia,” he said. The Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia have recently beefed up […]

Military verifying reports Abu Sayyaf’s Hapilon no longer in Marawi

The military on Saturday said it was verifying reports Isnilon Hapilon has escaped Marawi. Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant who claims to be the leader of the Islamic State (IS) group in Southeast Asia, has not been seen in the battle zone, said Lieutenant General Carlito Galvez, head of the military’s Western Mindanao Command. An attempt by government troops to arrest Hapilon in Marawi on May 23 triggered a rampage by Islamist militants flying black […]