Smoke rises after aerial bombings by Philippine Air Force planes on Islamist militant positions in Marawi in Lanao del Sur in Mindanao on Thursday, June 6, 2017. With bomb-proof tunnels, anti-tank weapons hidden in mosques, human shields and a “mastery” of the terrain, Islamist militants holed up in a southern Philippine city are proving a far tougher opponent than military chiefs expected. (Photo by NOEL CELIS / AFP )
The military on Wednesday defended its airstrikes in Marawi after civic groups appealed for an end to the bombardment and a campaign was launched on social media to blame the destruction of the Muslim-majority city on Christians.
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said “judicious use of force” was needed to meet “stiffer resistance” from the terrorists who continued to hold pockets of territory in the city after two weeks of fighting with government forces.
‘We didn’t start this’
Speaking to reporters in Malacañang, Padilla said he understood how the people of Marawi felt but pointed out that the military was not the one that started the conflict and wanted to destroy the city.
“We feel the pain, we feel the hurt of every member or every citizen or every resident of Marawi. But let us remember that we did not start this … . It was the armed group, the [Maute group], that entered your city to wreak havoc on it,” Padilla said.
The terrorists planned a larger-scale assault on Marawi than the attack they launched there on May 23, as seen in the materials and documents recovered from the sites of conflict, he said.
It was fortunate that this plan had been thwarted, Padilla said, adding that the military was doing its best to liberate Marawi.
Various groups, as well as Marawi residents, have been appealing to authorities to halt the airstrikes to minimize the damage to public infrastructure and private property in the city.
An apparent campaign to blame the destruction caused by the airstrikes on Christians has been going on for several days.
One text message that has been shared on social media blamed the “kafirs” (nonbelievers, non-Muslims) for the destruction caused by the fighting between government forces and Maute terrorists.
“They really destroyed the Islamic City. The Muslims had been heavily humiliated. The kafirs destroyed Lanao with bombs,” said the message written in Maranao.
A similar message was shared on Facebook by Benzar Ali Imam Tingao on Saturday.
Maute in-law
Tingao, a brother-in-law of the Maute brothers who lead the terror group, was arrested along with the Mautes’ father, Cayamora Maute, at a police checkpoint in Davao City on Wednesday.
Other posts asked questions such as “Will President Digong (President Duterte’s nickname) order the bombing of Cebu if the Maute and Abu Sayyaf attack it?”
“No,” another post said. “Marawi had been bombed because Muslims live there. Had Christians lived there, it would not end that way,” it added.
The military fears such messages and images of destruction in Marawi could be used by the terrorists to recruit fresh fighters.
Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, had said earlier images of the burning city could encourage people to fight as well as ask for support from foreign terror groups.
Galvez said the terrorists could twist the facts in their favor, as “they are expert[s] in technolog[y], including social media.”
He defended the airstrikes, which have destroyed swaths of the city, saying the terrorists were holed up in the targeted buildings.
Padilla said the military had yet to identify the owner of P79 million in banknotes and checks that Marines found in a house in Marawi that terrorists had used as a sniper’s nest.
He said the military had asked the banking sector and the Department of Finance for help in tracking down the owner of the money.