AFP to make one final push as noose tightens on militants

General Eduardo Año, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff said government forces will make one final push to break the Maute Group’s line and finally clear Marawi City of terrorists.

In a chance interview at the launch of former President Fidel V. Ra-

mos’ newest book “Make Change Work” in Camp Aguinaldo Monday, Año, citing field reports said security forces have cleared another set of 50 buildings, including a tall building used by Maute snipers to target government troops.

Over the weekend, eight more terrorists were killed bringing the total number of neutralized militants to 411. Government forces, however lost two foot soldiers.

The continuing air and ground assault has advanced the position of government troops leaving the militants with less than a square kilometer to maneuver.

“Slowly, kumukunti na lang iyung building na hawak nila (Slowly, the number of buildings they have control is decreasing).We were able to secure one tall building the other day, malaking factor iyun (that’s a big factor),” Año said.

“Less than one square kilometer iyung area na pinaglalabanan natin (we are fighting for) but we cannot neglect or bypass buildings. It’s fatal and dangerous to our soldiers and to the trapped civilians,” he added.

Año said they are not setting a timeline for the troops to finish the mission in Marawi City to take pressure off their backs.

“Tini-take advantage ng kalaban iyun tapos napipressure yung tropa natin, unnecessarily tumataas din yung casualty natin (The enemy takes advantage of that, also our troops are getting pressured and unnecessarily our casualty also increases),” Año explained.

“We’ll do it properly, deliberately and orderly, ensuring that we’ll be able to clear all buildings that will not compromise our civilians and our soldiers. But as far as our pacing, we are on schedule,” he said.

Added US support As the AFP approaches the final phase of its mission to clean Marawi of terrorists, the United States has committed to deploy two surveillance planes to assist ground troops fulfill its mission.

In an interview, US Ambassador to Manila Sung Kim expressed the “deep concern” of the US “about the security situation in Marawi” and will deploy Cessna 208 aircrafts “in a couple of weeks” under the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty and two other defense agreements.

“This is a very, very strong alliance,” said Kim. “We’re partners, allies, and friends, and we help our friends and partners in time of need, and the Marawi situation is clearly a very difficult situation for the Philippines.”

The top US diplomat in Manila further announced that the US government will help build Marawi.

“We’re going to do everything possible to support the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) as it tries to secure the area,” Kim

Meanwhile, the US Department of State warned US citizens to avoid all non-essential travel to Marawi City, Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago including the southern Sulu Sea, and to exercise extreme caution when traveling to other regions of Mindanao, due to terrorist threats, insurgent activities, and kidnappings.

Martial law is currently in place over the entire Mindanao.

“There is a threat of kidnappingsfor-ransom of foreigners, including US citizens, from terrorist and insurgent groups based in the Sulu Archipelago and in the southern Sulu Sea area,” the State Department said in its travel warning issued earlier this week.

“This area stretches from the southern tip of Palawan, along the coast of eastern Sabah, Malaysia and the islands of the Sulu Archipelago, up to Zamboanga City, Mindanao.”

According to the US Embassy, US government personnel are required to obtain “special authorization” before traveling to Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.

Transfer of venue As this developed, the Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the transfer of the trial and detention of arrested supporters and members of the Maute Group from Cagayan de Oro City to Taguig City.

In a full court resolution released yesterday, the SC directed the Taguig City regional trial court (RTC) to “speedily act on all prosecutions and incidents arising from the violent incidents in Marawi City involving the Maute Group.”

In the same resolution, the SC “designated the Special Intensive Care Area (SICA) located at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City, instead of Camp Evangelista, Patag, Cagayan de Oro City, as the temporary detention facility of any suspects, subject to the instruction to the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology to expedite the relocation of any suspects to a suitable detention facility.”

In ordering the transfer of the trial and detention of the suspects in the Marawi City siege, the SC acted on two letters sent to Chief Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

In both letters, Aguirre requested the transfer of the cases of the suspects outside Cagayan de Oro City because of its proximity to Marawi City and Lanao del Norte.

Aguirre had designated 30 prosecutors to handle the prosecution of the cases.

Reacting to the SC resolution, Aguirre said: “It will solve a lot of problems like where the detainees are to be confined and wherever we are going to rent a new place to hold the inquest and conduct preliminary investigations.” (With a report from AFP and Roy Mabasa)