PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday that he had told the government troops engaged in the conflict in Marawi City that the options are theirs on how they would end the insurgency in the besieged southern city.
"I instructed them to act slowly. But up to this time, there is stalemate. And other senators said, 'There has to be a time when you have to stop – stopping the armed forces,'" Duterte said during a speech at the 23rd anniversary celebration of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
"The last time I was there, around five days, six days ago, I finally said the options is [are] already yours because we cannot have a stalemate for over one year," he added.
This was Duterte' latest instruction to the government forces after telling them in early August that they do not need to be in a hurry in flushing out the Islamic State (IS)-link terrorists that laid siege to Marawi City on May 23, saying liberating the besieged city in a haste would just put their lives at risk.
On August 5, Duterte told the government security troops to "stay alive and fight cool" as they continue the fight against Maute rebels.
He said the "rule" that they should keep in mind is that they have to be "relaxed when they enter the war zone."
"Stay alive, fight cool. Do not be in a hurry. Do not go into rage because if you're infuriated, you’ll just put your life at risk," Duterte told troops when he visited Marawi City on August 5.
Duterte, however, vented his frustrations over the slow-moving armed struggle in Marawi City, which enters its 100th day Wednesday, August 30.
"It's getting loner. It's out of my hands already. A lot of people in government were already complaining – the police, the military, and the civilians. The civilian leaders are on the grounds in Marawi," he said.
Earlier in the day, Duterte held a joint police and military command conference at Malacañang Palace.
Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, in a statement, said the crisis in Marawi was among the issues discussed during the command conference.
The lengthy battle has so far allowed the government forces to retake the grand mosque in Marawi City, which is deemed as a "most significant landmark."
Military spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla Jr. earlier said that the troops conducted an "envelopmental approach" to ensure that the Muslim place of worship would not be damaged.
But Duterte admitted that the security personnel had wanted to bomb the mosque to expedite the operations against the Islamist fighters.
He, however, said that the reminded the state forces that they must not resort to such violence because it would only cause "more animosity and outright to hostility against the government."
"They really want to bomb the mosque to capture or kill their leaders there and in the process, sacrifice the hostages who are all Filipinos – maybe Maranao and mingling of Christians and Tagalogs," Duterte said.
"I said no, it will just create more animosity and outright to hostility against the government. Maranaos will not forgive us…. So that’s the story why it’s taking so long," he added. (VoxPop Philippines)
