Prior Knowledge and Intelligence Failures of the Marawi Attack - The Movie Trailer

On May 23rd, 2017 the Maute group laid siege to Marwai City. The Philippine government had prior knowledge of these plans and yet the attack happened due to what they call “intelligence failures.” I have compiled 30 minutes of government officials discussing this information which I plan to release on May 23, 2018. This is a one minute trailer of that video.

The Biggest Story of 2017

The biggest story of 2017 is that the Duterte administration knew in advance about the Marawi attack, did nothing to prevent it, and the Senate has refused to investigate the most significant terror attack in Southeast Asia in 15 years.

How is this even possible? 

How is it possible that Duterte, Lorenzana, and Calida can all confess and admit publicly in the media and even testify before the Supreme Court that they knew about the Marawi attack, did nothing to prevent it, in fact allowed weapons to flow unabated into the area, and there be no national outrage? Where is the political opposition? Where is the media opposition? Where are the voices in the blogosphere? Where are the whistleblowers?  Why is there only silence?

How can the Senate get away with not investigating the most significant terror attack in SEA in 15 years? It is beyond outrageous that the Senate has investigated two homicides, shabu smuggling, and fake news and yet sees no importance in getting to the bottom of what happened and why it happened in Marawi. A continual refusal to investigate the causes of the Marawi siege and how to prevent such an event from reoccurring means any overtures from Congress about the safety of the country is bovine scatology.

The Congress does not care about the safety of the Philippines. Allowing China to build military bases in the SCS, pushing for an Islamic State which will be governed by the terrorist groups MILF and MNLF, and refusing to investigate the Marawi attack are all proof that Congress does not care about the safety of the Philippines or Filipinos.

You know I hope some Senator reads this, gets offended, and sues me. Then all this information can finally get the attention it deserves!

What follows is a copy/paste of all the points I have raised in a former article which details the Duterte administrations admissions of prior knowledge of the Marawi attack.  

Here are the facts of the matter for all those Senators who seem to not know the facts of the matter surrounding Marawi.

1. The government knew about these attacks in April and knew as early as 2014 that ISIS was establishing itself in the country.

https://www.rappler.com/nation/172777-isis-military-marawi-crisis-martial-law-calida 

In the comment, Calida said the government had known as early as 2014 that there were links to ISIS being established by local groups in Mindanao. This is contrary to the stance taken by government at the time, under former president Benigno Aquino III: there is no ISIS in the Philippines.

"AFP intelligence reports disclose that as early as April 18, 2017, Abdullah Maute had dispatched his followers to the cities of Marawi, Iligan, and Cagayan de Oro to conduct bombing operations, carnapping, and 'liquidation' of AFP and PNP personnel in the said areas."

2. There was no failure of intelligence since the AFP and DND knew weapons were moving into the area.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/06/18/1711130/no-failure-intelligence-marawi

Duterte said the government was aware that firearms were being stockpiled in Mindanao but took it for granted because of the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).  

“We have adopted a very soft policy towards the rebels and this came about because they were bringing firearms. Since we are thinking of getting peace with the MNLF and MILF. The game there involves firearms. We took it for granted. We just allowed it to happen because we never knew until that time who was really the enemy,” Duterte told the troops in Butuan City.  

“When they see firearms and they were told that it’s for MILF or MNLF, the standing order was maybe we can talk to our brothers so there will be no trouble (but) it turned out that the Maute were bringing the firearms surreptitiously and we did not know how much ammunition and firearms were stockpiled, and besides it was not a failure of intelligence,” he added. 

3. Despite knowing all this Duterte and his top men took a trip to Russia just a few hours before the attack was launched.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/612764/palace-defends-huge-delegation-to-russia-everybody-was-necessary/story/

The list of Duterte’s official delegation to Russia sent to the media had 19 names, including Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Cayetano, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, and Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial. 

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez, Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, Science and Technology Secretary Fortunano dela Peña, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, and Senator Sherwin Gatchalian were also part of the official delegation. 

But police chief Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Armed Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Año, and Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha Uson also joined the President’s official visit.

4. Duterte changed the narrative regarding how the Marawi siege happened. First it was a botched raid against Abu Sayyaf leader Hapilon.

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/in-depth/171245-marawi-crisis-isis-plan-bautista

Now the reason is that a warrant was being served against a powerful and unnamed drug lord.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/09/27/1743196/duterte-now-claims-arrest-warrant-vs-drug-lord-triggered-marawi-siege

5. The DND was given foreign intelligence reports which they failed to verify despite having their own intelligence that ISIS was building up since 2014 and that Marawi was a known target since a month before the actual attack.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/07/27/1722033/dnd-admits-lack-intel-validation-marawi-siege

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that there was a lack of validation on the government side regarding intelligence reports on the siege in Marawi City. 

Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore have earlier warned the Philippines of the possible presence of ISIS-inspired local terror groups in the country, according to a report from UNTV. 

Lorenzana said that the incident in Marawi City would serve as a lesson for the Department of National Defense and the military to validate intelligence reports. 

"Maybe what we can do in the future is restudy what we are doing [in the] intelligence sector... so that we can be better prepared if something like this happens again," Lorenzana said.

It is in this same news article where Lorenzana is quoted as saying:

"The time of blaming somebody or pointing somebody is past that, ito na nga nangyari. We can no longer bring back the lives of those 110 people killed, 900 wounded," Lorenzana said.

Lorenzana could not be more wrong. 

There must be an investigation into the prior knowledge of the Marawi attack.  Can you imagine if there was no investigation into the attacks of September 11, 2001?  Can you imagine if Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said the time of blaming somebody is past and hinted that an investigation into the largest terror attack in United States was unnecessary?  That is exactly what is happening now.  

Senator Poe thinks there is a cover-up in the hazing death of UST student Horacio Castillo Jr.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/09/26/1742882/poe-there-cover-attempt-hazing-victim-case

There is an even bigger cover-up occurring in this matter of the government's prior knowledge of the Marawi attack. No one, no Senator, no Congressman, no journalist, no blogger, NO ONE has called for an investigation into this matter despite so much damning information being a part of the public record.

The time for an investigation is now. Duterte recognises the danger terrorism poses to the country.  He has even warned that more cities will be consumed with the fury of war. Is the Senate prepared to allow that to happen?  Is the Senate prepared to ignore the failures which led to Marawi and allow them to perpetuate? Is the Senate prepared to let those responsible for allowing the Marawi attacks to happen to not be held accountable? Is the Senate prepared to have the blood of hundreds, thousands, millions, on their hands because they failed to investigate this matter?

Why is there silence on this matter?  What is the Senate afraid of?

Investigate the prior knowledge of the Marawi attack now!

Philippines Government Asks Public to Help Pay for Medical Bills of Terrorist Group MILF

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/08/19/1730671/funds-sought-wounded-milf-guerillas-who-fought-biff

Officials are urging the public to help in the medical needs of Moro guerillas injured in their effort to neutralize violent extremists in Maguindanao province. 

More than a dozen guerillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front had been wounded in encounters with a third faction in the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters since late July. 

Socrates Piñol, member of the North Cotabato provincial board, said on Saturday that he will propose a resolution, subject to approval by his colleagues, recommending to the government the allocation of fund for the treatment of the injured guerillas. 

He said he will sponsor the drafting of the resolution during the session next week of the provincial board. 

"(In the) meantime, kind-hearted people may provide help. It is for us all, the Muslims, Christians and the Lumads, that the MILF is helping the government prevent the spread of these militants," Piñol said. 

It was the MILF's seventh encounter with the BIFF since it started operating against Abdulmalik three weeks ago in support of President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-terror campaign. 

"It is good to give them recognition by way of helping them and the families of those killed in their campaign against ISIS-inspired militants," Besana said on Saturday.

WOW!  There is so much wrong with this article it's hard to know where to begin let alone contain oneself at how outrageous it all is.  The government is literally asking the public to help pay for the medical bills of the terrorist group MILF.  And let's be clear, the MILF is a terrorist organisation not a band of guerillas.

They have engaged in terror across the country since they split away from the MNLF in 1977.

Their very first attack was in 1986 when they tossed a grenade into a packed church during a wedding.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/09/08/Grenade-attack-during-wedding-kills-10/6429526536000/

In 2003 more Christians were murdered when the MILF brazenly attacked the city of M'Lang.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/muslim-rebels-kill-filipino-christians-ahead-peace-talks

The MILF is an Islamic organisation and operates as such. Contrary to Piñon that the MILF Is fighting "for us all, the Muslims, Christians and the Lumads" "the MILF is helping the government prevent the spread of these militants" the MILF is a militant group itself seeking an independent Islamic State. So what if they are fighting with the BIFF?  Who cares if one terrorist group is fighting the other?  They both remain terrorist groups! How can the MILF be operating "in support of President Rodrigo Duterte's anti-terror campaign" by fighting the BIFF when the MILF is part of the terror which Duterte is against? It's absolute nonsense.

Are we supposed to forget the SAF 44 whom the MILF unapologetically murdered in it's pursuit of an Islamic State in Mindanao via the BBL?

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/03/25/1437257/milf-justifies-saf-44-slay

There is no justification for the MILF killing these men. It is exactly the same as saying drugs dealers shooting and killing PNP officers who raid their homes are justified because it is self-defence!

If the MILF and the BIFF want to kill each other then let them. They are both insidious and evil organisations who only seek to kill and destroy in the name of establishing an Islamic State in Mindanao which Duterte is all too happy to give them.  The government of the Philippines is supremely naïve if it thinks establishing the BBL will bring peace to the region and not instead establish a base from which ISIS and other terrorist groups can work, train, and grow unmolested and away from prying eyes.

Only a traitor would ask the public to or seek government allocation of funds for paying the medical bills of the MILF or any other terrorist organisation which routinely kills and attacks civilians, police, and the military and poses an imminent threat to the stability and safety of the nation.

Will There be NationwideTerror Attacks on June 30?

Twice now purportedly classified messages from the AFP have made their way into my Facebook message box.  The content of each is the same.  The first message arrived in my box June 20th but at the very top there is a date that looks like either June 13th or 18th 2017.

The second communique arrived June 27th but is dated June 25th.

The content of both messages is essentially the same but I have transcribed only the second message leaving in all grammatical errors.

1. Reference: RIS from NICA6 with Subject: Joint ISIS, Maute Group and BIFF elements to launch major attacks on 30 jun 17. 

2. Per above reference, RBIT on 30 jun 17, the joint ISIS, Maute Group, and BIFF elements will reportedly launch a major attacks in key cities nationwide targeting churches, shopping malls and other populated areas. The terrorist groups will also hijack petroleum lorry and LPG delivery trucks to be used as vehicle bombs. The suicide attacks will reportedly be carried out by foreign terrorist. 

    Relatedly, around twenty (20) members of a special Maute unit who graduated from an explosives training sometime on November 2016 have already been emplaced in their respective targets nationwide to simultaneously launch attacks during the Friday prayer or “Jumaah.” Accordingly, mosques will not be spared from the attacks. 

3. This Brigade will deploy troops in key areas to secure vitals installations particularly the oil depot’s in Bacolod City and Amlan, Negros Oriental. While the rest of the Army troops are currently conducting massive combat operations in the Island. 

4. In this regard, request the availability of our City and Municipal Police to conduct random checkpoint for at least three (3) shifting daily from 28 Jun to 03 Jul 2017. Areas to be conducted are along the national road of Negros Island Region to prompt the planned action of the terrorist groups.

All three of the signatories check out.  There is a Von Ryan T Gomez and a Jamie R Datuin and an Eliezer Losañes enlisted in the AFP. The Von Ryan Gomez who comes up in a Google search is a 1st Lieutenant and not a Captain but he is associated with Central Negros. He is both an author and a subject on this AFP wordpress blog.

A search for Lt. Col. Jaime R. Datuin brings up this Facebook post from 2014.

https://www.facebook.com/NOLCOM/posts/785330124840032

The third signatory, Eliezer Losañes, comes up in this story from Philstar and he is directly linked to the 303rd Brigade.

BACOLOD CITY , Philippines  – Local government units (LGUs) in the Negros Island Region are being urged to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in their areas in support of the anti-terrorism drive of state security agencies.  

The call for the installation of CCTV cameras was contained in a resolution approved by the regional advisory council of the Philippine National Police (PNP). 

The resolution sought the installation of CCTVs at the entry and exit points of the towns and cities as well as in areas of convergence. 

This developed after the Communist Party of the Philippines ordered its armed wing, the New People’s Army, to launch more attacks in response to the government’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao.  

Col. Eliezer Losañes, chief of the Army’ 303rd Infantry Brigade, said yesterday that they have intensified their combat operations.  

Losañes assured the Negrenses that the island’s coastal villages have been secured with the help of the PNP-Maritime Command, Philippine Navy and Coast Guard.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/05/29/1704484/negros-execs-urged-install-cctvs

How legitimate is the information?  Will there be large scale terror attacks nationwide on June 30th?  I don't know.  Why is this information even being leaked and why is not being leaked on a grander scale if it is indeed legitimate?  No one is reporting this information as far as I know.

It's not impossible that large scale attacks have been planned and will happen.  The government admitted that they knew in advance about the Maute Group's plan to siege Marawi.

Absolutely nothing was done with this information.  Duterte flew off to Russia to hobnob with Putin and the attacks were allowed to proceed.  We saw this same situation in Bohol where the AFP were tracking Abu Sayyaf, knew they were in Bohol and ignored the threat.

http://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2017/04/when-will-afp-chief-eduardo-ano.html

PNP Chief Bato knew there was a threat but AFP Chief Año did not???

Duterte is on the record saying his presidency will be a bloody dictatorship and that he will declare martial law if he wants to.

With no recommendation to do so from his top security advisers Duterte declared martial law last month in Mindanao and threatened to extend it nationwide if he saw fit to do so. What's to stop him from allowing nationwide attacks to happen just so he can impose marital law nationwide? Last week he said to be prepared for ISIS retaliation and more bombings.

What's coming down the pipeline for the Philippines? Does Duterte know? Will there be nationwide terrorist attacks on June 30th? We all better hold onto our butts!

The Cost of War is Surrender

How long has the Philippines been at war with communist insurgents and Islamic terrorists?  Since at least 1970.  That's 37 years.  And what of the cost?

http://www.manilatimes.net/mindanao-war-cost-p2t-in-31-years-study/173423/

The Mindanao war has cost the Philippine government a staggering P2.013 trillion during the 31-year period from 1970 to 2001, an amount nearly equivalent to the P2.606 trillion 2015 national budget. 

The years of fighting had killed nearly 120,000 people, excluding the tens of thousands of wounded from both sides and civilians caught in the crossfire. It was a bloody conventional warfare as the MNLF forces directly attacked military camps and installations.

2,000,000,000,000 pesos!!!  That's only from 1970 - 2001. How much more has been spent in the past 16 years? And why has this war been allowed to continue for nearly 40 years now? Could the leadership of the AFP be that incompetent that they can't get a few terrorists under control within 40 years? And how about the government who is deluded enough to think peace talks will solve anything.

The war ended when the Philippine government and MNLF signed the historic peace agreement on Sept. 2, 1996 during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos. 

But the 1996 peace accord was disrupted when the breakaway group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) protested the signing and continued its war with the government.

A ceasefire was signed in 1997 but this did not last long when a new administration under President Joseph Estrada declared an all-out war against the MILF in the summer of 2000 after the rebels launched several attacks on military and civilian population.

It was only during the time of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that peace talks between the government and the MILF resumed sometime in 2004. 

However, fighting erupted anew in 2008 when the controversial Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) about to be signed was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. 

It was only in 2009 that the peace process reopened during the remaining six months of the Arroyo government and was pursued by a new administration under President Benigno S. Aquino 3rd in 2010 that resulted in the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Bangsamoro (CAB) between the government and MILF on March 27, 2014.

Its a rollercoaster ride of war, ceasefire and peace talks, war, ceasefire and peace talks, etc, etc, ad nauseam.  

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/05/25/1703489/milf-mnlf-reaffirm-commitment-peace-process-amid-marawi-siege

Who cares if the MNLF is committed to the peace process. Of course this group wants peace rather than annihilation. Why would the government, after spending trillions and after losing the lives of thousands, seek peace with these murderous terrorists?  Why would they give them a piece of Mindanao as their own autonomous region? Why would the Philippine government sanction a terrorist state in their midst? After all the time, money, and lives wasted in the war against Islamic terrorists why would the government surrender? 

The MNLF is not committed to peace. If they were they would surrender unconditionally. They MNLF is committed to watching the Philippine government capitulate to their demands and hand over to them their very own state! And the government is stupid enough grant their wish.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/06/21/1712237/duterte-review-bbl-draft

Duterte said he and the MILF leaders would meet on Monday to hold “frank” discussions on the provisions of the BBL. 

“The BBL has been completed. And the MI (MILF) will give it to me, I will sign it during the Eid’l Fitr,” the president told reporters in Cagayan de Oro City last Wednesday. 

He was referring to the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to be celebrated on Monday. 

“We made a promise to the (MILF) that it would be on time. And we’ll meet in Malacañan on Eid’l Fitr,” Duterte said. 

“It would be better to be frank. It’s time to be candid and to be brutally frank. What is this? (Will this) document (be) the floodgate of peace in the land of Mindanao?” he added. 

The Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC), a panel with representatives from the government, the MILF and local stakeholders, has completed the draft BBL earlier this month.  The measure aims to form a new Bangsamoro political entity with enhanced political and economic powers

The blood of thousands of innocent Filipinos cries out from the ground!

AFP Planned to Defeat Maute by June 2017

While searching for something else I stumbled across a very interesting article from January 2017.

http://malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/new-deadline-defeat-abu-sayyaf-maute-biff

ARMED Forces chief Gen. Eduardo Año has given the military six months to defeat the terrorist groups Abu Sayyaf, Maute, and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday. 

The new deadline can be extended up to the end of the year. 

“That is our target… If we can do it in six months, good. If we cannot do it in six months, we can extend it (deadline) up to the end of the year,” said Lorenzana after a joint New Year’s call of the Department of National Defense and the Armed Forces in Camp Aguinaldo, which was attended by top defense and military officials. 

Año said the objective is to “significantly defeat” the three groups. “Significant defeat means we have rendered them, their capability very minimal.” He said 51 battalions are operating against the groups. 

Lorenzana said the deadline is realistic, given the support of residents and local government officials. 

“We will just have to do all we can, combining military operations and developmental projects to end what they are doing,” he said. 

Lorenzana said the military will take a new approach in dealing with the three groups, including the assignment of new military to commanders to lead the campaign “so that we’ll have new fresh approach in ending these lawless elements.” 

He declined to discuss the other measures, saying operational plans may be telegraphed to the groups. “We’ll just do it,” he said. 

“We are going to do something new or innovative to finish this problem (of terrorism) once and for all,” said Lorenzana. “For the record, our goal is to defeat the Abu Sayyaf and Maute (in six months).” 

As to the BIFF, Lorenzana said, “Its also six months.” 

Año said the military will craft a program to encourage the community to give more assistance to government troops. He said the community is important in monitoring potential terrorists. 

The Abu Sayyaf, composed of around 300 to 400 men, is operating mostly in Sulu and Basilan. The Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf is holding 27 foreign and Filipino hostages and has been linked to bombings and beheadings. 

The Maute Group, which has about 200 to 300 followers, is behind some high-profile atrocities, including the September 2 Davao City bombing that killed 15 people.
The BIFF is also involved in bombings and extortion activities. The group is composed of around 300 to 400 members, mostly former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. 

The three groups pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria about two years ago. The military said there is no indication the ISIS has recognized these groups as affiliates. 

Año’s predecessor, now retired Gen. Ricardo Visaya, also aimed to defeat the Abu Sayyaf during his term -- from July to December but failed. The Abu Sayyaf even intensified its kidnappings during the period.

Pretty funny in light of the circumstances now six months later with a declaration of martial law in Mindanao because the Maute group attacked and occupied Marawi  City.

The leadership of the AFP is quite full of themselves.

How many decades have they been battling commies and Mulisms?  How many arbitrary deadlines have they set and missed? Have they ever completed a goal on or before time?

What's really sickening is how overconfident they are of the whole situation.  The support of residents and local officials?  You mean the residents and local officials who are enabling the terrorist groups to operate?

And never forget that the government had prior knowledge of the Marawi attack and did NOTHING! So much for wanting to defeat Maute!

And how about in April when the AFP was monitoring the movements of Abu Sayyaf as they snuck into Bohol?  Remember that?

How can AFP Chief Eduardo Año possibly say he wants the AFP to defeat the terrorist groups within six months and then do nothing about it when a real threat arises, a threat they knew about because they were monitoring the groups movements??  You can read about the failures of what happened in April 2016 here and here. Año knew about the threat Abu Sayyaf posed to Bohol, did nothing, and then lied about it to the public. What a disgrace.

Read the last sentence from the article again.  While the AFP previously said they will defeat Abu Sayyaf in six months, Abu Sayyaf was intensifying its operations. Same thing with Maute. AFP says they will defeat Maute in six months and things have only intensified and the region has erupted into chaos.

Oh well its all good because as Lorenza says:

If we can do it in six months, good. If we cannot do it in six months, we can extend it (deadline) up to the end of the year

It's like he doesn't even believe the AFP can do it and already has an excuse planned for their inevitable failure.

Why didn't Duterte Declare Martial Law in November 2016?

In November 2016 the Maute group occupied the city of Butig even going so far as to raise the flag of ISIS over the town hall.  

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/11/27/16/army-presses-offensive-in-maute-held-lanao-town

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) pushed into Butig, Lanao Del Sur on Sunday, a day after the Maute Group, a terror organization behind the September bombing in Davao City, occupied Butig's town centre. 

The AFP estimated that from 200 terrorists on Saturday, around 300 men armed with grenade launchers are now occupying the town. 

Though no direct link has yet been established with ISIS, the Maute group’s alleged leaders, brothers Omar and Abdullah Maute, have already pledged allegiance to the terrorist group and even use their name and symbol.

This coming five months after clashes between the AFP and Maute group in the same city, Butig.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/787973/govt-troops-kill-22-terror-group-members-in-lanao-del-sur

At least 22 members of a local terror group based in Butig, Lanao del Sur, had been killed in a series of clashes with government troops there since May 26, the military said on Saturday. 

Two soldiers were also slain and nine other government troopers had been injured in the clashes, according to Maj. Filemon Tan, the spokesperson of the military’s Western Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City. 

Tan, whose unit has jurisdiction over Lanao del Sur and other areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said government forces launched a massive military operation in Butig against the Maute group. 

The group had allegedly professed allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or Isis.

This is the same thing that happened in Marawi City albeit on a smaller scale.  A city was occupied and the AFP was sent in to liberate the city.  But instead of following a scorched earth policy and ridding the Philippines of this group, the AFP ceased operations and a few months later the same scenario repeated itself.

So why didn't Duterte call declare martial law back in November?

Because he didn't feel like it.

NY Times Is Wrong. Duterte Knew About ISIS and Let the Problem Grow

The New York Times, perennial thorn in Duterete's side, has given him another prick.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/world/asia/duterte-philippines-isis-marawi.html?_r=0

A president who has focused on a deadly antidrug campaign that has claimed the lives of thousands of Filipinos seems to have been caught unprepared for a militant threat that has been festering in the south for years. 

“The government has largely been in denial about the growth of ISIS and affiliated groups,” said Zachary M. Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington who specializes in Southeast Asian security issues. “Duterte has been preoccupied with his campaign of gutting the rule of law by using police and other security forces for the extrajudicial killing of drug pushers.”

This is a half-truth.  While it's true the AFP has been caught with its pants down even though they have been battling Muslims terrorist groups for the the past few decades, Duterte was fully aware of the growing threat of ISIS.

http://globalnation.inquirer.net/150199/duterte-isis-creeping-ph-maute-group

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-security-idUSKBN1390U4

Duterte knew full well the threat of ISIS.  The man is from Mindanao.  He is no fool.  But tucked deep in that New York Times article is the key to the whole matter.

Historic grievances among the Muslim Moro people there, widespread poverty and large lawless areas have helped create an opportunity for the Islamic State. A peace process pursued by Mr. Duterte’s predecessor, President Benigno S. Aquino III, faltered in 2015 and has remained deadlocked under Mr. Duterte. 

“It was not the spread of ISIS in Iraq and Syria that fueled ISIS cells in the Philippines, but the collapse of the peace process,” said Mr. Abuza of the National War College.

EXACTLY!  

The peace process has failed. And it has failed on purpose.  Duterte was never going give the Muslims Mindanao.  The BBL would destroy Philippine sovereignty in the region.  Besides that the Muslims have killed too many innocents over the years for any sane man to give them the large island of Mindanao. The Day of Reckoning must come for the Muslims who have spilled rivers of blood over the years.

Duterte said in 2015 before he entered the presidential race that he would run a a dictatorship.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/politics/elections/2016/110679-duterte-contradictions-dictatorship

He said in January 2017 that he would declare marital law if he wanted too.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/158376-duterte-declare-martial-law-want-to

And this is EXACTLY what he did in May.  

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/05/31/duterte-no-one-recommended-martial-law-declaration.html

It's not such a convoluted plan. Duterte initiated a phoney peace process with the communists and the Muslims and let the ISIS problem grow until the inevitable turning point came when it all descended into chaos and he would have moral authority to declare martial law.  It's what he said he would do before he even entered the presidential race.  It's what he said he would do in January 2017. And now that martial law is in Mindanao it is not going anywhere anytime soon.

http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/31/17/mindanao-needs-martial-law-even-if-military-can-contain-maute-lorenzana

I have written a longer and more detailed history of this plan that can be read here:  http://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2017/06/martial-law-was-always-dutertes-plan.html

Please read through that article and realise that for Duterte, marital law was always the plan.