Philippines Hoists Flag Over Marawi as Battles Against Militants Persist

Froilan Gallardo, Mark Navales and Richel V. Umel
2017.06.12
Marawi, Philippines
170612-MARAWI-620.jpg Philippine troops salute during a flag-raising ceremony in Marawi, the capital of southern Lanao del Sur province, June 12, 2017. [
AFP

The Philippines on Monday raised its flag in Marawi, a defiant act that symbolically rejected the presence of Islamic State-linked fighters who have clung to pockets of the besieged southern city after nearly three weeks of battles with government forces.

Provincial spokesman Zia Alonto Adiong said damage from the fighting had basically put Marawi, a predominantly Muslim trading hub on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, at a standstill with its 200,000 residents forced to evacuate. Only a handful are believed to still be staying within the city’s battle-ravaged confines, either trapped by crossfire or held as hostages, officials said.

“This is a test of our strength as a people. Marawi has never been isolated as much before,” Adiong said.

Bursts of gunfire and the dull thud of bombs dropped from planes could be heard Monday, while government officials said that militants with the Abu Sayyaf Group and Maute gang had been cornered in the “heart of the city.” The enemy was carrying out guerrilla attacks, including sniper fire, according to officials.

Adiong said the local government was hopeful that the military would “eventually liberate Marawi city,” even though, he noted, he could not say when hostilities would finally stop.

Provincial officials held a tearful flag ceremony to mark the country’s 119th Independence Day. Troops and a handful of officials that remained in the city were present.

Vice Governor Mamintal Alonto Adiong Jr. was emotional as he tried, but seemingly failed, to shore up support and confidence. The sounds of scattered explosions and bomber-planes swooping down on enemy positions to drop ordnance interrupted his speech.

The siege, he said, had been doubly painful because it also came during the month of Ramadan, when Muslims around the world were meant to be peacefully fasting and “united as one.”

“It is very sad to think that we are not in our houses, we are not with our families,” Vice Governor Adiong said.

American commandos ‘did not join the fighting’

The officials said they were thankful for President Rodrigo Duterte’s decisive action in placing the entire southern island of Mindanao under martial law, as a direct response to the crisis in Marawi, the lakeside capital of Lanao del Sur province.

And in a sign that the government campaign was losing steam, his defense and military officials admitted having asked the United States, the country’s long-time ally, for help in rousting the militants out of Marawi.

Earlier, Duterte had publicly denied asking for American help. On Sunday, a day after the American embassy in Manila issued a statement saying that U.S. Special Forces were assisting the Philippine military at the government’s request, the president said he was not aware that the Americans were helping out.

Duterte said he had “never approached America” for assistance and that he was “not aware of that until they arrived,” according to a report by Reuters.

The news agency quoted Philippine officials as saying that the U.S. forces were only providing the local military with technical assistance but without any “boots on the ground.”

But on Monday, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said that Duterte had given his defense officials a free hand in trying to solve the Marawi incident, the biggest crisis to hit his government since he was elected last year.

“The president has already made clear in his media interview in (nearby) Cagayan de Oro that, as the commander-in-chief, he allowed the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to decide on matters pertaining to martial law,” Abella said, in a tacit admission of Duterte’s reversal.

He stressed that Duterte’s edict declaring martial law had designated his defense secretary, Delfin Lorenzanal, as the administrator of martial law and his military chief as implementer.

“They can undertake all measures to prevent and suppress all acts of rebellion and lawless violence, including seeking technical assistance from the United States, within the limits prescribed by the Constitution,” Abella said.

Yet the enemy force, headed by Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, has proven difficult to pin down. He and a handful of fighters in their dozens remained holed up in at least three villages in central Marawi, where they are fending off the military advance with sniper fire from hidden positions.

On Monday, soldiers engaged the armed men in running battles on the streets, just three days after 13 Marines were slain in a similar cat-and-mouse chase in the city.

Three weeks of fierce fighting has transformed Marawi, the country’s only predominantly Muslim city, into a desolate landscape of pockmarked buildings and abandoned homes. The official toll, as of Monday, stood at 138 enemy fighters, 60 soldiers and 29 civilians killed.

Lorenzana said that aside from a P3 Orion spy plane, there were three U.S. Special Forces personnel on the ground coordinating communications in Marawi.

“The Americans do not trust our people so they sent their own personnel to receive the information from the plane and relay it to us,” Lorenzana told a media briefing at Camp Evangelista in the nearby Cagayan de Oro City on Sunday.

Lorenza said the P3 Orion plane flew from Guam to Marawi City.

He said the three U.S. Special Forces servicemen had confined themselves to an army camp in Marawi last Friday and coordinated the information “down link” from the spy plane.

“They just stayed inside the camp and coordinated the technical communications. They did not join the fighting,” Lorenzana said.

170612-marawi2-620.jpg

Residents who fled fighting in the city of Marawi take refuge in a nearby town, June 12, 2017. [Dennis J. Santos/BenarNews]

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