As on-going peace negotiations with rebels keep weapons of security forces silent for a while, President Duterte must reactivate the military and unleash its full might this year against the Maute group that has launched terror attacks in Mindanao.
Given the Maute’s ties with foreign terrorist organizations that makes it an imminent to national security, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte urged Duterte to nip the threat in the bud by swiftly destroying the group of Moro bandits.
Villafuerte, vice chairman of the House Committee on National Defense, noted that the Maute Group has shown its boldness and ruthlessness when it hoisted the black emblem of the dreaded Islamic State in Butig, Lanao del Sur recently.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has also linked the Mautes and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters to the bomb attack in Hilongos, Leyte.
“According to recent reports, the Maute members were already withdrawing from Butig following a government offensive against them. The fact that they are now using the ISIS emblem confirms its allegiance to this dreaded terrorist organization, which is alarming,” said Villafuerte.
Villafuerte cited security analyst Romel Banlaoi’s comment that Maute, together with 10 other terrorist organizations in the country, had declared loyalty to ISIS, a jihadist group that has displayed ruthlessness in its terror campaign. (Ben Rosario)