Duterte: Int’l terrorists, drug money behind Maute

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte attended a situation briefing at the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade (MIB) headquarters in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte on May 26, 2017. PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

In his report to Congress on the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, President Duterte told lawmakers the Maute group which rampaged through Marawi City was bent on turning all of Mindanao into a province of the Islamic State (IS).

The group, which had 263 men as of late 2016, was funded by foreign terror groups and illegal drug money, according to the report, a copy of which was leaked to Malacañang reporters on Friday.

As much as 75 percent of Marawi, a predominantly Muslim City, had been infiltrated by the Maute group and the Abu Sayyaf, the report said.

It said the terrorists assaulted the Marawi City Jail and released at least 68 inmates, burned the Marawi Police Station and a hospital, cut power and transportation lines, ransacked a bank, took control of at least three bridges and hunted down and executed Christians.

“These activities constitute not simply a display of force, but a clear attempt to establish the group’s seat of power in Marawi City for their planned establishment of a Daesh wilayat or province covering the entire Mindanao,” the report said.

Daesh is an Arabic acronym for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

In a news conference in Davao City, Solicitor General Jose Calida justified the martial law proclamation because of the “festering rebellion of the Maute terrorist group, which has pledged allegiance to the (Islamic State).”

The group has allied with the Abu Sayyaf faction led by Isnilon Hapilon, who has also pledged allegiance to IS and was appointed head of the alliance, according to authorities. The United States has offered a $5-million reward for Hapilon’s capture.

Calida said the “more dangerous” Maute group has “transmogrified” into an invasion force of foreign terrorists who were heeding the call of IS to launch attacks in the Philippines if its members could not travel to Syria to fight alongside other Islamic extremists.

The Maute group has extensive networks and links to foreign armed groups, like Jemaah Islamiyah and Mujahidin Indonesia Timur, and the Abu Sayyaf, the report said.

“Reports abound that foreign-based terrorist groups, the Isis (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) in particular, as well as illegal drug money, provide financial and logistical support to the Maute group,” it added.

“Considering the network and alliance-building activities among terrorist groups, local criminals, and lawless armed men, the siege of Marawi City is a vital cog in attaining their longstanding goal: Absolute control over the entirety of Mindanao,” the report said.

The report provided a chronological account of events from Tuesday’s military operation to capture Hapilon and Maute group leaders Abdullah and Omarkhayam Maute. It said that operation “escalated into open hostility against the government.” By 10:22 p.m., 12 barangays in the city had been occupied by the militants, it said.

The President’s report was received at 9:55 p.m. on Thursday by Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in compliance with a constitutional requirement for Mr. Duterte to report to Congress within 48 hours of declaring martial law. —WITH REPORTS FROM DJ YAP AND FRINSTON LIM