Gov’t says law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear with Mindanao martial law

AFP to Marawi city residents: “We are not bombing your city”

(Eagle News) — Government officials assured the law-abiding public on Friday that they have nothing to fear about the martial law declared in Mindanao, as a military spokesperson tried to allay fears of Marawi City residents that they would conduct bombings in the city.

In a press conference in Davao City, government officials explained what was happening in the military operations going on to hunt down Islamist militants operating in the southern part of the country, which included Maute militants who are now being aided by foreign terrorists.

Philippine solicitor general Jose Calida said there were Malaysians, Indonesians, and Singaporeans among the foreigners helping the Maute group, as he stressed that President Duterte had “ample factual basis” to proclaim martial law in Mindanao.

The festering rebellion of the Maute terrorist group which has pledged allegiance to the virulent ISIS is a compelling reason why Martial law was declared,” he said.

This was meant to protect the public and to better destroy the Islamist militants operating in the southern part of the country.

“The proclamation of martial law and the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus in Mindanao need not be a cause for alam for our law abiding citizens,” said government solicitor general Jose Calida.

Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson Brig. General Restituto Padilla also assured that public that they need not worry about martial law, or that the AFP would bomb the city of Marawi.

“We assure our kababayans in Marawi, our Muslim brothers that we are not bombing your city. We are merely performing surgical airstrikes with pinpoint accuracy to neutralize these threats that have been impeding the entry and movement of our troops,” Padilla said.

He said the military is “taking every precaution to avoid collateral damage, damage to private property, which you have heavily invested in with your whole lives, as well as the loss of innocent lives.”

Padilla also said that law-abiding citizens need not worry about the military operations going on now in Marawi.

“May I also emphasize that law abiding citizens need not worry as these (military operations) are aimed at lawless elements involved in rebellious activities,” he said.

People urged surrender of unregistered firearms

But Padilla advised citizens holding on to unregistered loose firearms to surrender these immediately to authorities, “or to initiate appropriate measures to legalize these firearms.”

This way, they would not be subjected anymore to the “inconvenience of future search and seizure procedures.”

He also asked people to always carry with them their identification cards or papers whenever they travel in the affected areas in Mindanao.

Padilla also assured the public that the AFP and the Philippine National Police are working hard to contain the threat of the Islamist militants, even as he had already admitted that foreign elements had already joined the Maute and were helping them in their terrorist activities.

Foreign terrorists among the identified fatalities

In fact, there were foreigners among the 31 Maute militants killed by government forces.

“We are the armed forces of the people and whose oath is to protect the state and every citizen of this country and we will do that even at the cost of our lives, as you have been seeing in the many months that we have been fighting this threat,” Padilla explained.

There were 11 soldiers and two policemen killed in the fighting with the Maute terrorists since Tuesday.
Padilla the AFP is committed to uphold their oath to protect the country and its citizens.

“Because of this commitment, it’s sad that we had to offer lives,” he said.

Padilla also encouraged the public “to extend their full cooperation and support to facilitate the stabilization of Mindanao and hasten its road back to normalcy.”