Manila: No deal with militants
MARAWI: The Philippines ruled out negotiations yesterday with Islamist militants holding hostages and occupying Marawi, after reports that a rebel leader wanted to trade a Catholic priest for his parents being held by police.
Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said there would be no deals with the Maute militant group holed up here, because that was against government policy, and anyone trying to bargain had no authority to do so.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that Abdullah Maute, one of two brothers who formed the Maute group, had told religious emissaries on Sunday that he wanted his mother and father freed in return for Father Teresito “Chito” Soganub, vicar-general of Marawi.
The authorities believe Soganub and more than 100 other Christians are being held by the Islamic State-linked insurgents as human shields.
“The government policy not to negotiate with terrorists remains. The local religious leaderled talks with terrorists last Sunday was not sanctioned by government, the military and our political leaders,” Abella said.
“Any demands made inside, therefore, hold no basis. Let us remind the public that the gravity of the terrorists and their supporters’ offences is immense and they must be held accountable for all of their actions.”
Taking advantage of a short truce on Sunday to mark the Aidilfitri holiday, eight Muslim leaders entered the conflict zone alongside rescue teams and met briefly with Maute, whom the military a day earlier said had fled the battle.
The Maute brothers’ father, Cayamora Maute, was apprehended on June 6 in Davao City, also on Mindanao island, about 140km southeast of herei, and their influential businesswoman mother, Farhana Maute, was arrested three days later, closer to here.
The military’s public relations machine has over the past week been insisting that the rebel leadership was crumbling, saying top commanders had escaped or were killed in action, and the group was fraught with infighting.
It said the rebels had executed some of their own men for wanting to surrender.
Military officers, however, have said they lack solid proof of such developments and were working to verify intelligence reports. Reuters