Marawi crisis is not about religion, says exec's wife

Mindanao has nothing to do with religion.

“This war has nothing to do with religion. What is going on in Marawi now clearly states that all those years, it has never really been about religion. But to divide us, they had to use religion," said Bai Norhata Alonto, wife of Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) Secretary Datu Abul Khayr Alonto and member of the Du30 Cabinet Spouses Association Inc.

Bai, a resident of Marawi, said that during the first three days of the siege, she was still in denial.

"I couldn't believe (that) a Muslim would attack a place, which is almost 99.9 percent Muslim," she said, adding that the war was no longer about Islam nor jihad.

"If you fight for jihad, you should be fighting for the people who espouse Islam. Protect their property, protect their environ- ment, protect their homeland, and protect their psyche--their minds. But no! What is happening is we (the Muslim) are traumatized," she said.

Bai said that the fighting had not stopped because the terrorists were trained for urban guerrilla warfare, while the soldiers had trained for the jungle.

"Hindi nakatugma (they don't match), so they had to do some aerial strikes. We were against it, and it was gaining sympathy from some-ang naging biktima tuloy (the one that became a victim) was President Duterte. But we had to explain. We told them: 'If there will be no aerial strikes, the military cannot handle the terrorists.' Marami ang mamamatay sa kanila (many of them will die)," Bai said.

She also shared the story of her Muslim cousin-in-law, whom she said took care of more than 70 non-Muslims during the crisis.

"And (he) taught them how to say 'Allahu Ahkbar,' and all those shouts so that even if they go through the checkpoint, they will not be taken by the Maute or the ISIS. ," she said. "What came out of this war is really the revelation that it's not a religious war." /