The military said it would work to meet the deadline set by President Duterte for the soldiers to end the siege in Marawi City by the Maute-Islamic State (IS) group, although it said the Commander in Chief knew the “complexities” of the operation.
“The Armed Forces of the Philippines will do its best, as it has been giving its level best, to crush the rebellion of the Maute-IS group,” Military Public Affairs chief Col. Edgard A. Arevalo said on Wednesday. “The 15 days is a period within which the President hopes the crisis in Marawi to end,” he added.
Duterte earlier said he was looking forward to the military’s clearing of Marawi City within two weeks.
But Arevalo also said Duterte is fully aware of the challenges accompanying the ongoing operation.
“The Commander in Chief is aware of the complexities of the ongoing operations because he is being briefed regularly,” he said.
“Your government security forces’ resolute desire to accomplish the mission remains undiminished,” Arevalo added.
The military had earlier set a deadline of June 12 to crush the resistance put up by the terrorists, but the target was not met.
Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana also set three deadlines, but they, likewise, failed.
Lately, he said he was hoping the conflict would be over before the President delivers his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 24.
Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesman of the Joint Task Force Marawi, said 54 more buildings were cleared of IS-inspired terrorists at the main battle area.
Earlier the military said the terrorists are still holed up in some portions of four barangays in downtown Marawi City.
“Yesterday [on Wednesday] we have cleared 54 buildings,” said Herrera, who earlier said the area being occupied by the terrorists is composed of around 800 buildings.
Missing students, teachers
A Department of Education (DepEd) official, meanwhile, said about 22,000 students and 1,411 teachers in Marawi City have been displaced due to the ongoing armed conflict between the Maute-IS group and government forces.
In an interview, DepEd Assistant Secretary and Spokesman Tonisito M.C. Umali said, as of July 10, some 21,457 out of the 22,000 have been tracked down in various areas in the country.
Some of the displaced learners are enrolled in Region 1 with 34 students.
The highest number of Marawi displaced learners are in Region 10, with an estimated 12,663 students.
The DepEd found some of the learners in Lanao del Norte with 4,889, wherein 4,027 are in Iligan City.
In Lanao del Sur there are about 4,049 students, and in Lanao del Norte, 3,206.
For the learners absorbed in various divisions, he added, the DepEd has provided interventions, such as psychological first aid.
Tents and temporary learning spaces have been set up in areas that can no longer accommodate students in regular rooms.
“We provided learning kits. Same thing with our teachers, we provided them teaching kits, hygiene kits…all the necessary things for them…particularly in Region 10,” he said. With PNA
Out of the 1,411 displaced teachers, the DepEd said about 1,284 teaching personnel are from Marawi City.
“We are still trying to track all of them, in the same way we track some as far as Batac. Maybe, if they are back to work or they were called where they are or if they are teaching now in other divisions,” Umali said.
Part of the efforts of the department to assist the displaced DepEd workers and students include trying to locate them, especially the teaching and nonteaching personnel.
“Once we locate them, we would like to make sure that they are all okay. We try to provide what we can provide them,” he said.