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The Philippine security authorities need more time to make assessment on whether or not to lift the martial law in Mindanao in the southern Philippine region, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday.
At a news conference at the Malacanang presidential palace, Lorenzana said security officials have yet to make the necessary assessment to be able to decide whether the time has come to lift martial law.
"We'll wait for a couple of weeks more so that we will see the real picture. We don't have yet the necessary information to recommend the continuation or not of martial law," Lorenzana said.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared martial law for 60 days on the island of Mindanao and nearby island provinces after clashes broke out last May 23 between the army and militants linked to self-styled Islamic State (IS) in Marawi City.
The militants had occupied a hospital and a jail, and burnt down buildings, including a Roman Catholic church, prompting government to launch a military offensive, including aerial bombings to flush out the heavily-armed militants.
The militant fighters occupied more houses, mosques and several buildings in the past 42 days. Fighting continued to completely retake the besieged city to this day, killing more than 459 people, 336 terrorists, 39 civilians and 84 soldiers and policemen.
Lorenzana said the military has yet to clear about 1,500 houses and buildings in the city's central business district where most of the remaining 130 Islamic fighters are holed up.
Duterte put the southern Philippine region under martial rule to allow the use of military to enforce law and detention of people without charge for long periods. At least 66 people have so far been arrested after martial law was imposed, Lorenzana said.
He said the alleged leader of the May 23 attack, Isnilon Hapilon, remains inside Marawi City. "Hapilon is hiding inside one of the mosques there in Marawi. We still believe that he is still in Marawi," he said.
Hapilon, the alleged IS emir in Southeast Asia, carried out the May 23 attack along with the pro-IS Maute group. Hapilon carries a bounty of 5 million U.S. dollars from the United States government and 10 million pesos (about 200,000 U.S. dollars) from the Philippine government.
Lorenzana said the government will help in rebuilding the city destroyed by the ongoing fighting and aerial bombings, including houses for residents. Priority will be the repair or rebuilding of damaged buildings in the commercial center like stores and banks, he said.
Lorenzana said the government has created an interagency task force for the "recovery, reconstruction, and rehabilitation" of the city and other neighboring towns.
"So we are now preparing the rehabilitation plan. We are now preparing the mechanism to go into the rehabilitation recovery, as soon as the fighting stops in Marawi," said Lorenzana whom Duterte designated chair of the task force called the Task Force Bangon Marawi. Bangon is a tagalog word which means "to rise."
"So, the first thing that we would do after the fighting stops is to clear the areas of any left IEDs (improvised explosive devices) or any explosives (to pave the way for the return of the residents) of Marawi," Lorenzana said.
Marawi City, about 800 km south of the capital Manila, is the country's only Islamic city of more than 200,000 people.
Mindanao is home to a number of Muslim rebel groups seeking more autonomy.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
