May 25, 2017

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, said that the militants forced their way into the Marawi Cathedral and seized a Catholic priest, ten worshippers, and three church workers. Villegas also added that the priest, Father Chito, and the others had no role in the conflict.

“He was not a combatant. He was not bearing arms. He was not a threat to anyone,” Villegas said of Chito. “His capture and that of his companions violate every norm of civilized conflict,” Villegas said the militants are demanding the withdrawal of the government’s forces.

Violence erupted on Tuesday after the army of Isnilon Hapilon, a commander of the Abu Sayyaf militant group, which has pledged allegiance to ISIL (organization banned in Russia) invaded. Isnilon Hapilon is on Washington’s list of most-wanted terrorists with a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture. The militants called their allies, the Maute Islamic group for reinforcements, and around 50 militants managed to enter the city of Marawi.

In just one night, while Marawi was blacked out, groups of militants swept through the city, occupied the Mayor’s office, hospitals, and prisons, raised the black flag of ISIL (organization banned in Russia), burnt a Catholic Church, a college, and several houses. On Tuesday, Delfin Lorenzana, the Filipino Defense Minister, said that, in Marawi, militants and snipers of the “Maute” Islamic group were lying in wait in ambush. The news came on Tuesday evening, when Lorenzana was in Moscow, where he accompanied President Rodrigo Duterte on an official visit. Due to the difficult circumstances, Duterte cut his trip short and flew back to Manila.

Rodrigo Duterte, the Filipino leader, came to Moscow for a scheduled visit. Purchases of the Russian-made arms and manufactured products, as well as cooperation in the energy sector, were the topics of negotiations.

However, the situation in the Filipino province of Mindanao, which takes up nearly a third of the country, sharply deteriorated during the official visit after it was subjected to a powerful attack by terrorists from the ISIL (organization banned in Russia). As a result of the attack, one of the cities was captured. Now, clashes with the Islamists continue.

President Rodrigo Duterte was forced to impose martial law directly from the Russian capital and to prepare an emergency flight home. The planned meeting with Vladimir Putin was held, albeit ahead of schedule.

“I apologize for causing changes to your work schedule. You are aware of the situation in the province of Mindanao: ISIL units have taken partial control of this province. Clashes and fighting continue. I have to fly there. Of course, we consider Russia to be our close friend. We would like to work on further strengthening our bilateral relations; our country needs modern weapons. We had several contracts to buy weapons from the US, but now the situation there is not very stable. We need modern weapons to fight ISIL,” said Roderigo Duterte.

All planned negotiations will be worked out despite the Filipino leader’s urgent flight back. A significant delegation of Filipino representatives remains in Moscow in order to finish signing the agreements.