A priest snatched by the Maute group is still alive after the government refused to exchange “hostages” with the pro-Islamic State terrorists, the military said Monday.
Lt. Col. Jo-ar Herrera, spokesperson of the Joint Task Force Marawi, said civilians rescued from the war zone reported seeing Fr. Chito Suganob together with other hostages.
“Ang panayam po namin doon sa mga survivors or escapees 3 days ago po is buhay siya… Kasama siya sa parang isang hostage area,” Herrera told radio DZMM.
“Siya raw ang ginagawang taga-serve, taga-luto. Visual po, nakita ng mga nakapanayam natin.”
(Based on our interview with survivors or escapees 3 days ago, he was still alive. He was spotted in a hostage area. He was reportedly ordered to cook and serve the terrorists’ food. This was witnessed by the escapees we interviewed.)
A media outlet citing an unnamed source reported last week that terror leader Abdullah Maute was offering to release Suganob and other abducted civilians in exchange for his parents who were recently arrested by authorities.
Malacañang however maintained that the government will not make any deals with terrorists.
The military meanwhile said it has no knowledge of the reported offer that Maute supposedly extended through several emissaries.
Intelligence units are seeking to verify the location of Suganob and other captives, Herrerra said, adding that about 100 non-combatants were still trapped in the conflict area.
Fight or flight
Thousands of soldiers are battling to retake Marawi, where Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists launched a lightning strike on May 23.
After weeks of military airstrikes and shelling, Marawi is now a ghost town, the center of which has been reduced to charred rubble and hollow structures. Buildings in the military-controlled areas of the city are still standing but deserted after residents fled.
Authorities estimate around 100 to 120 fighters, some of them as young as 16, remain holed up in the commercial district of the city, down from around 500 at the beginning of the siege.
Herrera said several militants have expressed desire to surrender as state troops closed in on their lairs while sealing possible exit routes.
Some terrorists like their leader, however, were still intent on fighting the government.
“Iyung nabubuhay pa na Maute leader na si Abdullah, may mga kamag-anak po tayo rito na nakakausap. Sabi niya na dito na siya mamamatay,” Herrera said.
(We have talked with some relatives of Abdullah. He reportedly told them that he will die in Marawi.)
Intelligence units, he added, were still verifying whether Abdullah’s brother, Omar, has been killed in a military airstrike, as reported by rescued hostages.
City of the dead
A Filipino soldier lies on a mattress at their combat position in a house as government troops continue their assault against insurgents from the Maute group in Marawi Sunday. Jorge Silva, Reuters
The battle for Marawi has killed at least 82 security troops, 39 civilians and 336 militants.
Among the civilian fatalities were 12 residents whose badly mangled bodies were recovered last week, Herrera said.
“Ito po iyung hinarang ng mga local terrorist group Maute noong first week, doon po sa area ng Moncado, kung saan pinababa sila. Karamihan po dito ay Kristiyano. Tapos po pinagbabaril,” the official said.
(They were blocked by Maute terrorists in the Moncado area in Marawi during the first week of the fighting. Most of them were Christians. They were ordered to alight from their vehicles then they were shot.)
Their remains, Herrera said, will be sent to the police headquarters at Camp Crame for DNA testing and further investigation.
Herrera said he expects the death toll to further swell because authorities have yet to account for possible fatalities in the military airstrikes. — With Reuters
Re-published from ABS-CBN News
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