May 23, 2017 will always be marked by Marawi residents, after the city was under siege by the terrorist group named Maute that day.
The terrorist incident shocked the Philippine nation when Maute group clashed with the Philippine National Forces through attacking the city of Marawi.
The attack began around 1:45 PM by 15 identified Maute group, leading to an exchange of fire fights with the national military.
Few hours later, around 5 PM, Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) flag had been raised around the city, showing off that Maute group of members took control of the city.
With the continues attack on the same day, Marawi City Jail burned down, freeing more than 100 prisoners.
According to the Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy, the prisoners were freed by 50 armed Maute members who managed to barged into the Marawi City Jail.
Marawi City Jail on fire
Courtesy: Corner View of Regional Emergency Assistance Communications Team
Other facilities reportedly burned were Dansalan College and Saint Mary’s Church.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana confirmed that the aforementioned facilities were burned down.
Lorenzana confirms facilities burned due to Maute attacks.
However, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) assured the public to avoid panicking because the government was on top of the situation.
In line with the situation, President Duterte declared martial law to all 27 provinces and 33 cities in Mindanao on May 23,Tuesday night to had fully control of the military actions in Marawi City.
Defense chief takes action
Defense Secretary Lorenzana said the Marawi City crisis will be over three days or a week at most, however, 45 days later after the attack, he admitted that he underestimated the Maute group.
Secretary Lorenzana said that the terrorist group had stockpile of guns, ammunitions and food which made them survived longer than they had expected.
“We underestimated the situation because previous operations against them didn’t last long – about 3 days.”
Based on reports from local officials, the number of terrorists were only about 200, but the real number grew from 700, thrice the number as expected.
See: Defense chief: ‘We underestimated the Maute group’
President Duterte signed An Administrative Order (AO) 3 instructing Lorenzana to lead the efforts to rebuild Marawi City back to its state.
DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, spearheaded the inter-agency task force responsible for reconstruction, recovery, and rehabilitation of Marawi City. The Philippine army also spearheaded the rehabilitation
Furthermore, the Philippine Army is also in-charged of tapping structural brigades to rebuild the facilities that had been devastated in Marawi City.
“We’re preparing the rehabilitation plan for this. There will be a survey soon to assess the damage there so we can have a ballpark figure how much we’re going to need to restore Marawi.”
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (left) in the press briefing Thursday (6 July 2017) in Marawi City. With him is Acting Local Government Secretary Catalino Cuy and PNP chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa.
MindaNews photo by H. MARCOS C. MORDENO
Martial Law in Mindanao
President Duterte placed Mindanao under martial law May 23, Tuesday night, amid the clash between Maute group of members and government forces.
Though the seige centered in Marawi City, Martial Law nneded to be applied all over Mindanao because there were also issues regarding safety and security in places like Sulu, Zamboanga peninsula, Central Mindanao, and Davao region.
In accordance to the 1987 Philippine Constitution, the President as commander-in-chief of all the military operations, may declare martial law “in case of invasion or rebellion, when the public safety requires it.”
Photo courtesy: news.abs-cbn.com
A month after its imposition, Malacañang and Philippine forces considered the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao a success because it was the element needed to keep the crisis in control. The A month after imposing Martial Law in Mindanao,
Eastern Mindanao Command deputy commander and Mindanao martial law spokesperson Brig. Gen. Gilbert Gapay said that further damages were controlled because of the strict checkpoints and implementation of curfews, as included in the conditions underlying Martial Law.
“I am glad to report that after a month, we have prevented the spillover of terrorism in Eastern Mindanao.”
Based on the records, the declaration resulted to a total of 13,149 checkpoints all over Eastern Mindanao and there are 210 curfews implemented in municipalities and barangays.
The checkpoints and curfews were made possible because of the positive coordination of the Local Government Units (LGU) and Philippine National Police (PNP).
To continue the military control in Marawi City, Martial Law has been extended until December 31, 2017.
Read Further:
Chronological order of Marawi siege
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