MILITARY RULES OUT TALKS WITH MAUTE TERRORISTS
As the armed conflict in Marawi City reached its 45th day Thursday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines reiterated that there will be no deals nor negotiations with the Maute Group terrorists.
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, Armed Forces spokesperson, made this comment in reaction to reports saying President Rodrigo Duterte tried to reach a deal with the terrorists.
“Everybody believes that nothing of that sort will ever happen because the instruction coming from the commander-in-chief has been very clear - that there will be no negotiations with these evil elements who are inside the city and brought damage and havoc to Marawi,” Padilla said.
“They have killed many innocent civilians and (took) the lives of our men. So how can you negotiate with them? “Padilla asked.
As of yesterday, the death toll in Marawi included 351 Maute terrorists, 39 civilians and 85 soldiers.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella also denied that Duterte consulted a Muslim leader and asked him to act as mediator between the government and the Maute group.
Abella maintained that the Philippine government stands firm over its position not to offer any reconciliatory talks with the Maute group.
“We’d like to address the claims of Agakhan Sharief. Up to this point, we have no verified reports that there were efforts to initiate such actions as Agakhan Sharief claims,” Abella told a press conference.
“Let me be clear that the position of the Palace and the President is not to negotiate with terrorists, including these local terrorist groups, which intended to establish a state within the Philippine state and to remove allegiance to the government of the Philippines and the chief executive of the city of Marawi and its residents,” he added.
Abella’s statement came after Sharief, a clergyman who had been involved in peace efforts in Mindanao, claimed that a “senior Duterte aide” approached him to use his connections to conduct back channel talks with the terrorists.
Abella said the President does not want to engage the Maute fighters in a peace pact because they “constitute rebellion, submit (themselves) to a foreign leader involved to a dangerous ideology that is inimical to the well-being of our Filipinos, including Muslim Filipinos.”
Duterte, in his speeches delivered amid Marawi siege, has repeatedly asserted that martial law in the southern country will not end until the last terrorist is wiped out.
Fighting between government troops and the Maute group broke out in Marawi on May 23, prompting Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao. The military said the Maute terrorists remain in control of four out of 96 barangays in the city.