The battle has officially been over in Marawi for two weeks now. The displaced have been returning and the AFP has begun pulling out. A lucky few even got to take a trip to Hong Kong.
The female soldiers who fought in the five-month Marawi siege were already on an all-expense paid trip to Hong Kong, President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday night.
“They are already there,” Duterte said when a reporter asked about his promised Hong Kong vacation to the female soldiers.
He said budget airline Cebu Pacific paid for their airfare while he took care of their allowances.
The President did not disclose the date the soldiers left for Hong Kong and how long they would stay there.
Sounds pretty sweet. An all expense paid trip to Hong Kong with pocket money straight from Duterte's pocket. Hong Kong a nice place. It will be wonderful to hear the interviews with these ladies once they return. Such PR could only be good for Duterte. I really do look forward to hearing and reading interviews with these ladies who went to Hong Kong. Because of course they really did go on an all expense paid trip to Hong Kong and this is absolutely not a PR stunt by Duterte.
A smaller lucky few even got to travel with Duterte to Japan during his recent visit.
After 5 long months of battle in Marawi, the top military officers who served there were rewarded with a trip to Japan, care of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Duterte said he allowed some top commanders to accompany him on his recent visit to Japan.
"The ones I brought along are really the top commanders. I just invited them for a respite," said Duterte on Monday night, October 31, after arriving from Tokyo.
"I just brought them to unwind. At least they have time for sight-seeing," he added.
Good thing these top commanders got a chance to unwind after the harsh 5 months of battle. Sight seeing in Tokyo must be pretty cool. So is the weather this time of year. And now that the battle is over the top commanders aren't needed in Marawi at all. Right?
The news that stragglers remain in the city of Marawi should be a surprise to no one least of all to top commanders who conveniently were taken out of the the war and sent on holiday to Japan with Duterte. Whether the Indonesian is lying is not the point. His very presence confirms the real danger of Maute remnants and the AFP recognises this.
While the ladies of the AFP are allegedly taking a break in Hong Kong their counterparts are hard at work clearing the city of stragglers and bombs.
This is all ridiculous. Duterte declared the city freed of militants after Hapilon and Maute were killed and then a week later as combat operations were officially declared ended the AFP begun to slowly withdraw and allow evacuees to return to select areas. Rather than secure the city and make sure it is 100% clear of bombs and terrorists before allowing anyone to return the AFP pulled out much needed men and some of them even allegedly went on holiday outside the country!
WHAT MADNESS!!! Is the AFP purposely trying to lose the war? There are only 7 weeks left of martial law. Isn't this the time to use all the resources they have to root out and destroy as many terrorists as possible in Mindanao? At least these men should be securing the city. It's the tortoise and the hare. Like the hare the AFP has ran far ahead (or so they think) and have decided that a nice nap won't do any harm. Now they are awake and there are stragglers ahead of them reaching the finish line.
It's no wonder that Australia has issued a travel warning for it's citizens.
Guess how Malacañang responded to Australia's warning.
It’s “generally safe” for foreigners to travel, work or study in the country, Malacañang said yesterday as it allayed fears sparked by Australia’s alerting its citizens to possible terror attacks in the Philippines, including in Metro Manila.
Roque assured the public that there are no monitored terror threats so far in Manila and elsewhere in the country.
“The Philippine government has no information about any increased terror threat in the country and we assure our foreign friends that local authorities have been enforcing tight security measures, especially in populated areas while we urge everyone to continue being aware of one’s surroundings,” he said.
Security officials are not ruling out the possibility of a lone wolf attack in key areas of the country, including Metro Manila.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana stressed the possibility of a lone wolf attack during the Association of Southeast Asia Defense Ministers Meeting (ADDM)-Plus held last month at Clark Field in Pampanga.
On Friday, the Australian embassy issued an alert to its citizens, warning of a high probability of terror attack in Mindanao and Metro Manila.
“I believe that’s one of their reactions to what happened recently in New York and there seems to be a pattern emerging because of the incidents that also happened in other countries,” Andolong said.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla said Australia’s travel advisory was just issued by its embassy in Manila to reiterate its previous travel warning.
Padilla earlier warned of the possibility of a lone wolf attack, particularly from sympathizers of the Islamic State-linked Maute group who were defeated by government forces in the five-month battle to retake Marawi City.
Padilla, however, assured the public the military has not monitored any credible terror threats in Metro Manila or in other key areas of the country.
According to the Philippine government the Australians have issued a general non-specific terror warning for the PHILIPPINES because of the recent terrorist attack in NEW YORK on Halloween and not because of any specific threat of terror attacks in the Philippines. The Philippines remains a safe a place even though it is full of shabu users who will kill you at any moment and require a bloody drug war to be put down and despite the high risk of a lone wolf attack in retaliation for the ISIS defeat at Marawi. Even though Duterte and high ranking military officials and experts around the globe have chimed in to say that the Philippines remains a hot bed of jihad and the risk for terror attacks remains high and Mindanao is FULL of ISLAMIC terrorist groups which could strike at any moment there is nothing to be concerned about because there have been no SPECIFIC credible threats to any part of the country. Please visit. Mabuhay. It's more fun in the Philippines.
Aside from the regular nastiness of the philosophy of jihad and the religion of Islam the greatest reason for a terror attack is Congress dragging it's feet on the BBL.
"I will urge Congress to fast-track it because they are getting impatient," Duterte told reporters at the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City, before leaving for an official visit to Japan.
The President was referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), which have been pushing for the passage of the BBL, which would expand the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
"If we do not act on it (the BBL) expeditiously, I think that we are headed for trouble," the President warned.
Translation: Pass the BBL or there will be more terrorism. That is blackmail and should not be taken lightly. MILF, MNLF, and all the other Islamic terrorist groups want their own Islamic state.....or else! And Duterte is too eager to give it to them. Duterte, and other politicians, is perfectly fine with these terrorist groups holding the Philippines hostage for the sake of obtaining their very own Islamic State.
What would such a thing accomplish but more terrorism as each group fights for control? Already the ARMM should be enough. Like any region in the Philippines the ARMM is full of corruption and coupled with the inevitable violence the BBL will be much worse.
Moro National Liberation Front founder Nur Misuari has asked the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan to order a reinvestigation of his criminal cases in connection with the alleged anomalous procurements amounting P115.2 million during his term as the governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Even if Misuari is not guilty of corruption he is guilty of being a rebel and a terrorist and is an enemy of the state who has repeatedly done his best to destabilise the country. Why is Duterte negotiating with men like him? Why is anyone eager to pass the BBL and give a large part of Mindanao over the control of terrorists? Anyone supporting the BBL is spitting in the face of every soldier who fought in Marawi and who has fought in the decades long war against the ISLAMIC terrorists who have wrecked havoc throughout the country and will continue to do so as long as they are permitted to exist.
