By BONITA L. ERMAC
MARAWI CITY – General Eduardo Año, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), assured in a press conference Monday Isnilon Hapilon and Omarkhayam Maute will be buried decently in line with Muslim rites.
“But we will not disclose the place because we don’t want it to be a symbol of martyrdom or this will be used by their sympathizers,” said Año.
Isnilon and Omar were killed along with seven of their comrades following an intense firefight early Monday.
According to Año, it was a young female hostage rescued on Saturday who pointed to military forces the whereabouts of the two.
Año related it took them some time to neutralize the two as they were “transferring from one building to the next with some of the hostages.”
“So hindi po pwedeng pilitin at baka pagpapatayin nila mga hostages,” he explained.
Military forces emerged triumphant in the end with the two being found dead after some four hours of relentless pursuit.
Isnilon was said to have succumbed to a bullet wound on his chest, while Omar reportedly died from a “head shot.”
“This day marks the triumph of good over evil. The day when the labor and sacrifices of your security forces-soldiers, airmen, sailors, marines, policemen and coast guard personnel-finally paid off,” said Año.
Military forces rescued 20 hostages following the firefight including a five-year-old boy and a two-month-old baby whom the terrorists reportedly nicknamed “Queenmil.”
Authorities believe there are still some 22 hostages left inside the main battle area with the Maute-ISIS group, which they said is now down to around 30 or less members including eight foreigners.
They also accounted for some 39 individuals, whom they labeled “relatives” of the Maute-ISIS members, inside the main battle area.
“We are very optimistic that very soon we will get all of them,” Año added.
Meanwhile, the remains of Isnilon and Omar were brought to Task Force Trident’s command post to undergo DNA testing prior to their burial.