Philippine Marines refute rumors against units in Marawi

LANAO DEL SUR --- The Philippine Marine Corps (PMC) on Wednesday dismissed as hoax the warning by terrorists its servicemen will vent their ire on civilians over their losses in Marawi City.Evacuees said on Wednesday that they are certain the warning was spread by the Dawlah Islamiya, whose leaders, Omar and Abdullah Maute, are both known for their propensity in using text messages and social media for propaganda campaigns.The PMC lost 13 men, among them a Marine lieutenant, in encounters in Marawi City with Maute and Abu Sayyaf gunmen, now grouped together as the Dawlah Islamiya.Major Gen. Emmanuel Salamat, commandant of the Philippine Marines, on Monday branded the issue as enemy propaganda that conflict-stricken folk in Marawi City and in Lanao del Sur must ignore. The Marines are not like that. These men are committed to serve the Muslims, Christians and Lumads everywhere in the country. For them death in line of duty is part of military service and love for nation, Salamat said.Vice Gov. Mamintal Adiong, Jr, a senior member of the Lanao del Sur provincial peace and order council, on Wednesday called on his constituent-mayors to help allay undue apprehensions triggered by rumors purporting that government forces are out to retaliate on civilians.Adiong said the provincial government is grateful to different units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police that helped rescue thousands of Muslim residents trapped in villages where Maute and Abu Sayyaf gunmen laid siege.Adiong, who is overseeing the on-going relief and rescue operations of the Lanao del Sur provincial government, cautioned the internally-displaced people (IDP) from Marawi City to refrain from spreading what he called hoax text messages that are meant to scare innocent people.He said Maranaws should also disregard text messages obviously intended to destroy the image of local government units and state security forces doing everything to restore law and order in Marawi City.Marawi City is the capital of Lanao del Sur, a component province of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.The province covers 39 towns, including Butig, hometown of siblings Omar and Maute, the wanted founders of the Dawlah Islamiya. We should avoid becoming unconscious instruments for spreading false news, rumors and inappropriate posts on Facebook. When we perceive scary developments in the surroundings, we just have to report immediately to the LGUs, to barangay officials, or to the nearest police installations, Adiong said.Salamat, who graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1985, said the most senior Marine officer supervising their units in Marawi City, Brig. Gen. Melquiades Ordialez, Jr., is actively coordinating with Adiong and ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman all of their humanitarian activities intended to benefit IDPs.Workers of ARMM's Humanitarian Emergency Assistance and Response Team have been helping Adiong’s office attend to the needs of 183,557 evacuees from Marawi City since evening of May 23, the day hostilities in the area erupted.More than 40,000 of the 183,557 evacuees are house-based, or those in houses of relatives Iligan City and in towns in Lanao del Norte in Region 10.Salamat said Ordialez had also met with officials of the Mindanao State University in Marawi City for a confidence-building dialogue following last week’s deadly encounters with terrorists that resulted in the deaths of 13 Marines.