(Eagle News) – We are ready.
The deputy commander of Joint Task Force had this to say, after the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Murad Ibrahim warned that jihadists loyal to the Islamic State group could seize another Filipino city.
According to Col. Romeo Brawner, the military was “rewriting (their) doctrines,” “reorganizing (their) units,” and “re-equipping and retraining,” applying the lessons they learnt when Maute rebels who pledged allegiance to ISIS overran Marawi in May.
He said this was in light of confirmed reports there were still remnants of the lawless group.
In fact, he said the military has had encounters with suspected Maute members since January: One on January 20 in the municipality of Masiu (Lanao del Sur); the other the following day in the municipality of Pagayawan; another the next day, which resulted in three suspected Maute members being apprehended; and then on Feb. 8, in Pantar.
“So naniniwala tayo na may mga remnants pa rin na gumagalaw diyan..,” Brawner said.
Even then, Brawner assured that martial law has been a very effective deterrent so far.
“Wala na tayong nakikitang mga nagdadala ng firearms openly, and when, since the implementation of martial law, halos wala na pong cases of murder, homicide, or other killings within Marawi City and Lanao del Sur. Yong mga crimes related to the loss of lives from fire arms, illegal fire arms ay nawala na ito, because of our control, our gun control we are implementing, and we are able to implement this because of martial law,” he said.
He said martial law also enabled government forces to control and monitor the entry of individuals who are not Marawi residents, thus, averting the entry of suspected terrorists.
“Kung manggagaling po sa amin yong recommendation, definitely we will recommend that we continue to implement martial law until the end of the year,” he said.