President tells military: Wait, don’t rush things

President Rodrigo Duterte. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

ILIGAN CITY — Wait it out. Do not attack. We do not want to kill people.

Surprisingly, the words came from President Rodrigo Duterte who, on Friday, asked the military not to rush things in Marawi City lest they endanger the lives of some 300 hostages still being held by the Maute gunmen.

Speaking before businessmen during an investment conference in Davao City, the President said he had asked the military not to launch a major offensive against the terrorist group and their allies who were holed up in a mosque inside the war zone in Marawi City.

“I said we have to wait it out. I said do not attack. You can fire shots, but if you launch an assault, they’re going to behead people there,” the President said.

The lives of the hostages are equally important, Mr. Duterte added. “It’s not important to me if they’re Moro, Christian or Vietnamese. (What’s) important is we do not want to kill people.”

It was the government’s “moral duty” to make sure the hostages were alive, even if the war drags on for a year, Mr. Duterte said.

“So, even if it’s expensive … if you see someone running, you can open fire. But no assault. That’s 300 lives. If you have to wait there for one year, let us wait for one year,” the President said.

The military should also allow food to reach the hostages. “Not bullets. Only food,” Mr. Duterte said. “It’s our moral duty to see to it that they live and that they are fed,” he added.

Despite the cautious approach, the President expressed confidence that the gunfight, which has so far killed 99 soldiers, 421 militants and 45 civilians, would end soon.

“The fighting in Marawi would soon be over. The one thing that’s stopping us now is the mosque. It’s a big one (and) it has underground tunnels. (It’s) not so much about (the terrorists), but they have 300 hostages,” Mr. Duterte said.

The military said targeting Muslims hiding inside the mosque could be costly to them.

“If we target them, the Maute group will succeed in convincing people that this fight is against Muslims,” Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, Task Force Marawi spokesperson, said.  “It’s against terror,” he clarified.

Maranao Army officers said that the Maute group had been twisting facts to pursue its own agenda of widening the gap between Muslims and Christians.

In his social media post, Semion Almujaheed, the self-styled propagandist of the Maute group, said those fighting against them were “soldiers of the cross” or members of the “crusader army.”

But Capt. Abdullah Mocsana of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade denied this. “We’re not soldiers of the cross as they have been claiming. We are here fighting evil.”

He added: “Islam itself means peace and Muslims are peaceful people. When you kill women, children and the defenseless, you are not a Muslim anymore. You have denounced Islam and you become apostate. That’s what they have been doing.” —Jeoffrey Maitem and Allan Nawal