At the beginning of the week Duterte made his 4th visit to Marawi.
"The President went to the Grand Islamic Mosque which used to be the command and control of the Maute Terrorist Group and where some hostages were hidden," according to a Malacañang statement.
"He proceeded to the Mapandi Bridge and to the main battel area where he gladly allowed photo opportunities with the troops to give them morale support," the statement added.
Photo opportunities to boost morale? You know what would boost moral even more? An all expense paid trip to Hong Kong once the fight is over!
For getting the job done, President Duterte promised women soldiers deployed in Marawi City an all-expense paid trip to Hong Kong.
During his previous visit to the frontlines last month, Duterte egged on the troops to stay alive and promised them an all-expense paid trip to Hong Kong and other perks as soon as they win the war.
He said the trip to Hong Kong would be a family treat.
And if anyone does not want to avail himself of the all-expense paid trip, Duterte joked they could choose to spend time with an actress.
Wearing a camouflage top and gray corduroy pants, Duterte set foot in Marawi City to give away goods including Casio G-Shock watches and cigarettes to the troops.
“I will not stop you (from smoking) because you are under stress,” Duterte remarked.
Duterte also promised that on his next visit, he would bring some celebrities to perk up the atmosphere in the battle area. He said the soldiers can “gently touch” the entertainers.
“We have to finish this then you can take a vacation,” he told the troops.
Free watches! Free cigarettes! Free trip to Hong Kong! Time with an actress and celebrities they can gently touch! Wait....what?? Duterte promised to being celebrities to the battle zone so the soldiers can gently molest them? Who would volunteer for that? What about Mocha? Are the soldiers not allowed to gently molest her to boost morale? What is she even doing in the battle zone? Why does she visit Marawi and not wear any camouflage or kevlar? This sexy dancer turn propagandist is a major liability.
These Muslims are so delusional they really think that anyone is going to be taking their shoes off in a war zone. Were they this upset that the Maute group used the Grand Mosque as a headquarters from which to spill blood? Isn't using the Grand Mosque as a snipers nest much more of a desecration?
What's even worse is Duterte's response. He is so bent on not offending Muslims who won't condemn the terror groups in Mindanao that he will bend over backwards and apologise profusely for something which he should not have to offer apologies.
The battle rages on and the AFP continues to gain ground and learn more about Maute's techniques to evade bombardment.
Trenches were also discovered behind walls with sniper holes, a deceptive tactic that the military said explained why troops sometimes found it hard to see where bullets were coming from.
Lieutenant Colonel Mon Almodovar, commander of the 3rd Scout Ranger Battalion, said the enemies they were fighting were very “dynamic” on the battle field.
“Pinag-aaralan din natin ang kalaban. Ang kalaban kasi very dynamic din sila. Noong una hindi sila naghuhukay. Eventually, habang tumatagal, naghuhukay na sila. Nagta-tunnel na sila. Kumbaga, we have to adopt din sa kanila based doon sa tactics ng kalaban,” Almodovar said.
(We are also studying the enemies. The enemies are very dynamic. They weren’t digging in the beginning. Eventually, as the fighting draffed, they started digging. They created tunnels. We also have to adopt to them based on their moves.)
The AFP sure does have a lot to learn. They aren't trained in urban warfare and were totally unprepared for this fight. Why is the siege still on 4 months later? Who is supplying these people? What are they eating? Where are they sleeping? So much to learn but apparently one thing is not a priority for the AFP: learning the source of Maute's weapons.
Most weapons recovered from slain militants belonging to the Maute group and its allies or from areas they had vacated in this Lanao del Sur provincial capital bore marks which indicated that these came from the government, a military spokesperson said.
“It only meant that somebody from the government sold it to them,” said Capt. Jo-ann Petinglay, spokesperson for the Joint Task Force Marawi.
Petinglay, however, did not say how many of these recovered firearms had been confirmed to have come from the government armoury.
The military has recovered at least 628 firearms—among these high-powered weapons like Barrett .50 caliber sniper’s rifles and Armalite, Garand and M14 rifles—since fighting began in late May when Islamic State-inspired militants took over sections of Marawi.
According to Petinglay, finding out who are responsible for the delivery of the firearms to the Maute group and its allies is not the military’s priority, noting that the investigation can be conducted after the fighting here ends.
“It’s easy to track where (the firearms) came from (based on the markings). But it’s not our priority right now. Once the fighting is over, we will commence our investigation,” she said.
Unless every single soldier in the AFP is on the battlefield in Marawi it is ridiculous for them to say this is not a priority and that the investigation can be conducted after the fighting ends. When will it end? Another month? Finding out who supplied these arms and stopping the flow of weapons is 100% a priority for the AFP. Do they want weapons to keep pouring into Marawi? It's this sort of wilful ignorance that allowed the Marawi siege to happen in the first place. If it is so easy to track where these weapons came from then they had better get on it immediately.
Probably the AFP does not want to rush the investigation because they know it will reveal things that people won't be pleased with. There is corruption in every branch of the Philippine government and the AFP is not excepted. The building of Marawi has not even commenced and corruption is already creeping into the mix.
More than P50 billion is needed to rehabilitate Marawi, Defense Secretary and Task Force Bangon Marawi chairman Delfin Lorenzana said yesterday.
Citing his visit to the city with President Duterte last week, Lorenzana said his initial estimate of P50 billion to cover the repair and construction of government and private infrastructure would not suffice.
“I think P50 billion is not enough. Talagang grabe ‘yung destruction. When the fighting stops…I will bring you there.You will see how damaged the area is,” he told a press briefing at Malacañang.
Lorenzana said foreign governments have so far pledged around P2 billion. He said Australia pledged P1 billion; China, P85 million; the European Union, P49 million; Japan and Thailand, P100 million each and the United States, P730 million.
Is Lorenzana's eyeball estimate accurate? Probably not.
June 10
July 27
August 12
10 billion, 20 billion, 30 billion, and now 50 billion is not even enough! How about they wait till the battle is over before allocating funds and making estimates which they can't reliably make before they have assessed the damage? Because they are getting in on the plunder plan early. Overcharge, use cheap and shoddy material, and pocket the excess. That's how it works. No doubt this is exactly what will be happening in Marawi. Next year everyone will be reading all about it and pretend to be shocked.
Can you say "pork barrel scam redux?"
This could definitely be the last week of fighting in Marawi. The net is getting tighter and tighter. Sooner or later it will be time.
The Philippine military said Sunday it had captured the command center of ISIS group supporters who have besieged Marawi City for nearly four months.
The military said it had captured the militants' control center in a deadly battle lasting five hours that began Saturday in a mosque and another building.
It added that they have subdued the militants and successfully took back Bato Mosque and Amaitul Islamiya Marawi Foundation, which became Maute strongholds.
"This enormous (military) gain further weakened the terrorist group by denying them their erstwhile command and control hub," military chief General Eduardo Año said in a statement.
"As follow up and clearing operations continue, we expect the enemy to yield more previously occupied positions, but not without a fight," he said. "We are ready for that."
All this fighting in Mosques makes one wonder if these guys have any real devotion to Islam. Are all those Muslims upset at Mocha Uson and Duterte for wearing boots inside the Grand Mosque paying attention here?
It will always be premature and foolish to be a date setter as to when the siege will end and Maute is not going out without a fight. This week or not there is still more fighting to be done as Maute makes its last stand.
If only the AFP and Duterte had learned that lesson sooner about not setting dates then they could have concentrated on fighting and instead of worrying about arbitrary deadlines. Maybe next time this happens they won't go blabbing their plans to the media and keep telling everyone that it will be done in 3 days, 7 days, a month!
