Cleared Maute positions yield drugs worth $2-5M

THE MILITARY found methamphetamine worth between $2 million to $5 million while clearing rebel positions in besieged Marawi City, officials said on Monday, boosting suspicions raised by President Rodrigo R. Duterte himself that Islamist militants are being funded by the narcotics trade.

The 11 bags of shabu, the local name for methamphetamine, were recovered on Sunday along with four assault rifles in the kitchen of a two-story concrete house believed to be occupied by fighters from the Maute militant group.

“This strengthens our findings that these terrorists are using illegal drugs,” Major- General Carlito Galvez, military commander of western Mindanao, said in a statement.

Mr. Duterte, who launched a ruthless “war on drugs” after coming to power a year ago, has said Marawi fighters are being financed by drug lords in Mindanao, an island the size of South Korea that has suffered for decades from banditry and insurgencies.

Fighting in Marawi City erupted on May 23 after a bungled raid by security forces on a Maute hideout, with gunmen owing allegiance to Islamic State, seizing bridges and buildings and taking hostages.

Mr. Duterte responded by declaring martial law in Mindanao.

The army said nearly 350 people, including 257 militants, 62 soldiers and 26 civilians, have been killed in four weeks of fighting.

The fighters were prepared for a long siege of Marawi, stockpiling arms and food in tunnels, basements, mosques and madrasas, or Islamic religious schools, military officials have said.

Bundles of bank notes and cheques worth about $ 1.6 million were also discovered earlier this month in an abandoned rebel position.

Jo- Ar Herrera, a military spokesman, told a media briefing the militants were also using commercial drones to monitor troop movements.

Malacañang also on Monday confirmed the narcotics seizure, adding that military operations will continue apart from legal questions that have been raised on Proclamation 216, Mr. Duterte’s martial law declaration.

“It will be foolhardy to stop the fight because the martial law was lifted so if there’s a threat to public safety, tuloy pa rin po (it will continue),” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesperson BrigadierGeneral Restituto F. Padilla, Jr. said in his briefing at the Palace.

Last week, Mr. Duterte said ground troops will be withdrawn from Marawi if the Supreme Court — which recently wrapped up its deliberations on petitions questioning the factual basis of martial law in Mindanao — rules against the proclamation.

“But if that rebellion burns Mindanao and the other parts of the Philippines, and I will be forced to declare martial law again.... I will not consult anybody and there is no telling when it will end. It could be a copycat of Marcos,” Mr. Duterte had also warned, referencing the martial law regime under which then President Ferdinand E. Marcos established his dictatorship.

Mr. Padilla for his part said Mr. Duterte “will not be referring to abuses.”

“He may refer to the breadth and the depth of how to impose it but I guess it’s not because of the abuses,” the military spokesman said.

“He (Mr. Duterte) may have been very serious about tackling and dealing with the problems at hand, as one of the solutions could be martial law, but not on the extent of the abuses,” he added.

“And we can be sure of that because of the previous guidance that he has already given.”

In a related development, Justice Secretary Vitaliano N. Aguirre II said on Tuesday Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P.A. Sereno wants a continuous trial for cases filed against members of the Maute group.

Speaking to reporters yesterday morning, Mr. Aguirre said he had met with Ms. Sereno following his request to designate the Taguig trial court to handle the cases.

To be sure, the SC has yet to release an order changing its earlier resolution designating the Maute cases to the Cagayan de Oro trial courts.

Through the continuous trial system, the trial will be held from Monday to Thursday, at 8:30 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon, according to guidelines promulgated in 2015 and aimed at lessening the days of trial for criminal cases. Hearing on motions, arraignments, and promulgation of decision shall be held on Fridays.

“I am going to reorganize my panels kasi ( because) my panels should be composed of Metro Manila prosecutors...who should undergo immediate training on continuous trial,” Mr. Aguirre also said, adding that Ms. Sereno offered the facilities of the Philippine Judicial Academy ( PhilJa) for their training.

Mr. Aguirre added that they also discussed the possibility of holding the trial at the Special Intensive Care Area (SICA) of Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig City.

Supreme Court Spokesperson Theodore O. Te, for his part, said the SC has yet to issue a resolution on Mr. Aguirre’s request: “The SC resolution stays until the SC says otherwise. It has not issued another resolution. The letter of Secretary of Justice asking for reconsideration has not yet been granted by the SC.” -- main report by Reuters, with and