“The footprints of ISIS are all over the place,” Duterte says

By APD writer Melo M. Acuna

MANILA, May 25 (APD) – Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte said he plans to expand his Martial Law declaration to the Visayas and probably to Luzon to address the threats from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

Speaking at a press conference after delivering his arrival statement late Wednesday afternoon from a ten-hour flight from Moscow, President Duterte admitted “the footprints of ISIS are all over the place.”

He said the explosion in Davao City last year which killed at least 15 persons as well as the beheadings perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf are forms of terrorism that need to be addressed immediately.

The country’s 1987 Constitution allows the chief executive to declare Martial Law for a maximum of 60 days with the concurrence of the legislature. He said he would talk to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and he needed more time to place Mindanao under Martial Law.

He explained the Writ of Habeas Corpus will also be suspended and that curfew will be enforced in a number of Mindanao provinces including Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and even the island provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

“It will never be the same and Mindanao will never be the same (after the declaration of Martial Law),” Duterte explained as he vowed to rid all the problems of the poverty-stricken southern-most portion of the Philippine archipelago. He underscored the fact of the poorest province in the country.

He added with the declaration of Martial Law that people may be arrested without warrant and law enforcement agents can search without court approval. The Arrest, Search and Seizure Order (ASSO) will be utilized to go after persons positively identified to be fighting the government.

Military and police operatives would issue the ASSO during the Martial Law period.

Asked if he is confident of bringing order to the restless south, President Duterte said he believes he could accomplish his goal.

“If I could do it in 15 days, then we all go back to normalcy,” he said. He, however, admitted ISIS footprints are visible across the country.

It will be recalled the military downplayed reports that ISIS operatives have reached and successfully established a caliphate in the Philippines. The military said the local elements simply want to be recognized by the ISIS to assure them of support.

He also took the opportunity to thank Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for the warm accommodation and kind understanding for his decision to cut short his visit to Russia on account of what happened in Marawi City.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)