P79-M worth of checks, cash found by PH Marines in Maute lair

Cash and checks amounting to P79 million are discovered in one of the house in the besieged city of Marawi. PHOTO FROM PHILIPPINE MARINES

Members of the Philippine Marines on Monday recovered P79 million in cash and checks from a house that used to be a sniper position of the Maute Group in Marawi City.

A total of P27 million worth of checks and P52 million worth of cash in bundles were discovered in one of the houses in Barangay (village) Mapandi during the clearing operations of some troops of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 on Monday.

There will be an investigation as to where the money came from, Ltc. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesperson of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, said in a press briefing Tuesday.

“We will not speculate here. We will wait for the facts after the investigation,” he said.

The Marawi crisis reached its 15th day on Tuesday and nearly 200 people have been killed and thousands have fled.

But the recovered cash and checks may indicate that the Maute group is on the run.

“The government troops are sustaining… The recovery of cash indicates the Maute is running and the troops are pressing in,” Herrera said.

The gunbattle started with the military’s botched raid against Abu Sayyaf senior leader Isnilon Hapilon but reinforcements from the Maute Group came.

Hapilon is also reportedly the emir of the Islamic State in Southeast Asia. IDL/rga

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