Philippine president says threat remains after Marawi siege

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The Philippine military says those responsible for the months-long siege in Marawi City are actively recruiting members again. Officials also say militant allies in other parts of the Southern Philippines continue to pose a threat. In Southern Philippines’ Maguindanao, the country’s largest Muslim separatist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, or MILF, is helping the government quell this threat.

For years, MILF has fought Philippine government forces, but today they’re working alongside yesterday’s "enemy." A peace pact with the government signed in 2014 has not only temporarily ceased the war between the two parties, but also enabled MILF to work with the military, fighting a common enemy – ISIL-allied militants.

While government troops were in the thick of their battle against militants in Marawi, the MILF took on a smaller group of ISIL followers led by a former MILF commander, Abu Turaifie. It’s the group cited by President Rodrigo Duterte in his letter asking Congress to extend martial rule for another year in the southern island of Mindanao.

A Philippine flag is seen at destroyed houses in Bangolo town at Marawi city, southern Philippines, October 17, 2017. /VCG Photo‍

Salvador Medialdea, Philippine Executive Secretary, said "Despite the liberation of Marawi and the silence in the main battlefield, a state of actual rebellion subsists in Mindanao perpetrated not only by remnants of the Daesh-inspired DIWM, but also by other local and foreign terrorist groups, including the New People's Army, and they are ready to explode anew at any given time."

Haun Sindatok, MILF 105th Base Deputy Commander said: "It was in this back in August where their forces fought or started fighting with those allied with ISIL." The skirmishes lasted for months spreading from jungles to wetlands. Lives were lost on both sides. Haun Sindatok pointed at one place, saying this is the place where they lost most men in a single day. 15 of their fighters died."

MILF forces succeeded in driving the ISIL-linked militants out. They also believe they’ve weakened the militants significantly. But that doesn’t mean, they say, that they can now let their guards down.