{"id":124492,"date":"2017-10-17T11:50:38","date_gmt":"2017-10-17T15:50:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=124492"},"modified":"2017-10-17T11:50:38","modified_gmt":"2017-10-17T15:50:38","slug":"afp-maute-heads-death-could-mean-more-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/10\/17\/afp-maute-heads-death-could-mean-more-violence\/","title":{"rendered":"AFP: Maute heads death could mean \u2018more violence\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Military<\/a>
FILE: Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla said. (PCOO photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Maute group\u2019s two leaders\u2019 deaths on Monday could still call for more violence, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr. on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

In an interview with CNN Philippines, the AFP spokesman said that the deaths of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon and Omarkhayam Maute, while seen as a positive sign of the Marawi crisis ending, there is still a negative side to it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the negative side is they lost two prominent leaders that have been there for a long, long time and who have provided a lot of direction,\u201d Padilla said in the same interview.<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cSecond, on the negative side, it can spur them to be more violent, be more extremist in their ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kumar Ramakrishna, an expert on terrorism from Rajaratnam School of International Studies in an Agence France-Presse report, called the deaths of the two leaders a \u2018symbolic blow\u2019 to ISIS-linked groups in Mindanao, but said that the threat still remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust because the Marawi siege is coming to an end does not mean the thread is over. IS-linked militants there will regroup\u2026 and lay low for a while, while rebuilding their strength,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

However, AFP Chief of Staff General Eduardo A\u00f1o stressed in a press briefing in Marawi, also on Tuesday, assured that just because the battle is near its end, it does not mean that there will be a \u2018letup\u2019 in their operations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m certain that the neutralization of Hapilon and Omar is the last straw that has broken the camel\u2019s back. The Marawi crisis will be over sooner than later. The resistance or what is left of it, the terrorists will crumble, it is a dead end, there is nowhere else to go for them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeedless to say, the remaining terrorists should as well free their hostages and if their dignity is intact by letting the noncombatants go,\u201d A\u00f1o added.<\/p>\n

Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella supported this by urging the remaining fighters to \u2018restore peace and rebuild our land.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cWith terrorist leaders gone, we call on all fighters to cease further resistance and violence and return to the road of peace,\u201d Abella said during the Mindanao Hour press briefing on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The Marawi siege since May 23 pressed President Rodrigo Duterte to declare a martial law in the whole of Mindanao.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maute group\u2019s two leaders\u2019 deaths on Monday could still call for more violence, according to Armed Forces of the Philippines …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":104828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[14357,28217,27921,28216],"class_list":["post-124492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-isnilon-hapilon","tag-kumar-ramakrishna","tag-omarkhayam-maute","tag-restituto-padilla-jr","mauthors-bea-kirstein-t-manalaysay","mauthors-philippine-canadian-inquirer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}