As Soldier walks inside a house with Islamic State markings indicating it had been occupied by terrorists in Marawi City. —JEOFFREY MAITEM
Once the fighting in Marawi is over, President Rodrigo Duterte said the authorities should look into how the extremists were able to amass so much munitions.
“We always want our city safe for our children. That’s why I’m angry with my fellow Maranaos. I said, ‘I am angry with you. Why did you allow these sons of bitches in?,’” Mr. Duterte said in a speech in Davao del Sur on Saturday.
“They could not have [just] built that kind of ordnance [stockpile]. Until now they have a lot. [How] were they able to amass that much? This has to be looked into, maybe after the fighting,” he sad.
The President said he felt almost guilty for sending so many soldiers to their deaths and the casualty reports made him shed tears.
“Every time I read [them], it’s so unsettling. Sometimes I cry, I shed a tear if the numbers are really great, because I [can] see my soldiers who have died,” he said.
“‘My soldiers’ because I am the Commander in Chief. I [can] see the police who have died. What comes to my mind are their families,” Mr. Duterte said.
“It’s hard on the conscience. It’s heavy. It is not really a guilt feeling but it’s almost akin,” he said.
The conflict has resulted in more than 400 deaths in just 40 days since it started on May 23, official data showed.
The death toll consists of 317 terrorists, 82 government troops and 39 civilians.
Malacañang revised the civilian death toll from 44 to 39 because the number of cadavers recovered recently was 12 and not 17 as initially reported.
“I’m always praying this war will end as fast as it can because I don’t like people dying,” he said.