THERE is no mistaking it. The jailbreak on Saturday in Lanao del Sur was a slap in the face of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has vowed to wipe out criminality in six months.
In open defiance of this promise, some 50 Muslim extremists carrying the insignia of the Islamic State stormed the Lanao del Sur provincial jail, freeing 28 detainees, including their leader, Hashim Balwag Maute, who had been arrested just a few days before.
The provincial jail warden said most of the escapees were, in fact, high-value target criminals.
The Defense Department on Monday vowed to pursue a relentless campaign against members of the Maute group. In the aftermath of the jailbreak, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana admitted that the escape of top leaders of the Maute group represented a threat to the already volatile security situation in Mindanao, but played down its alleged links to the Islamic State terrorist group.
“They’re very significant… as they raided the provincial jail… It has been a bigger threat because of these escapees,” Lorenzana said.
But the defense chief played down reports that bandit groups claiming to be part of IS had already infiltrated the country.
“We haven’t seen any indication yet. Those who are here want to be recognized, but it seems that it hasn’t happened because their leadership isn’t stable yet,” he said.
“IS cannot yet control these groups… these are just bandit groups, terrorists who do not have any sense of loyalty to anybody but wanted to be recognized for international exposure,” he added.
Regardless of this distinction, however, the Maute group has clearly dealt the Duterte administration a black eye, casting doubts on its ability to deal swiftly and effectively against a determined, armed group. In a similar manner, the Abu Sayyaf group defies Duterte’s law and order rhetoric by continuing to hold hostages ransom—and beheading those who don’t meet their demands.
Thus far, the Duterte administration has claimed success in its anti-drug campaign, with hundreds of small-time pushers and users being killed since he took office.
In the same time, the President himself has also managed to harass and shame a woman senator who dared suggest that his anti-drug campaign had violated the human rights of suspected drug users and pushers, thousands of whom are being killed.
But perhaps when the President tires of persecuting women and small-time hoods, he might find the wherewithal to finally put an end to these bandit groups that openly defy his authority in his home turf of Mindanao. They, too, like the drug lords, are a blight on this society.
