THE United States has warned of the resurgence of the Islamic State in Mindanao even as the Department of National Defense (DND) hopes that the planned military exercises with American troops will push through despite the government’s serving of the formal notice terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
A quarterly report by the Lead Inspector General for the Operation
Pacific Eagle-Philippines (OPE-P) covering the period of October up to December
2019 noted the increased and sustained recruitment of the IS among the
internally displaced residents of Marawi City, which was devastated by the war
waged by IS-inspired homegrown terrorists in
2017.
“Independent analysts, government officials, researchers, and local residents told US Embassy officials that extremist recruitment has outpaced the public benefits of rehabilitation in Marawi since the ISIS insurgency was defeated there in October 2017,” the report said.
“The cable assessed that if this trend continues, Islamic extremists could
eventually stage another high-profile operation like the 2017 attack on
Marawi,” the lead inspector general’s report added, citing a report provided by
the US Department of
State.
The OPE-P was the US’s counterterrorism program in the Philippines, the focus of which had principally been the training between Filipino and American forces in their more than 300 annual engagements and military exercises under the VFA, whose termination had been formally served by the Philippine government, although its effectivity will come after 180 days.
‘Wrong direction’
US Department of State Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs R. Clarke Cooper earlier said the termination of the agreement will mostly affect the military-to-military exercises involving US and Philippine troops, and US Defense Secretary Mark Esper called it a move in the “wrong direction.”
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the military activities that have been planned and still fall within the 180-day period will push through, although the US holds the prerogative whether it would continue with the engagements.
“With the formal serving of the notice of termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement, this year’s planned military exercises with the Americans shall proceed as scheduled within the 180 days that the VFA remains in force,” Lorenzana said in a statement released through defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong.
“However, our American counterparts may opt to discontinue the scheduled exercises before the 180 days are up. Once the termination is final, we will cease to have exercises with them,” the defense chief added.
Rehab delay favors IS
The OPE-P report said the continued delay in the planned rehabilitation of Marawi City and in the construction of homes reduced in rubble during the five-month war in the city was fueling the recruitment of IS in Mindanao, especially among the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
“Public anger at the Philippine govern-ment’s extended delays in providing for the reconstruction of Marawi has allowed extremist elements to regain a foothold in the city, according to a November DoS [Department of State] cable,” the report said.
In response to “signs of resurgent terrorist recruitment in Marawi and elsewhere,” the US Embassy in Manila and the DoS’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations launched a $1.7-million program in Cotabato City to build local government and nongovernment organization capacity to design and implement programs to counter radicalization.
The program was designed to complement USAID’s Marawi Response Project aimed at helping IDPs recover economically and integrate into their new communities.
“According to the cable, reconstruction has been delayed by multiple corruption scandals. The cable assessed that there is a public perception that politically well-connected government contractors are enriching themselves at the expense of Marawi residents, and this has reinforced extremist anti-government narratives and contributed to terrorist recruitment,” the OPE-E lead inspector general report said.
“The cable stated that after two years of relative quiet, marked by declining levels of violence, there were signs that violence was returning to Marawi. ISIS media claimed responsibility on behalf of ISIS-EA [East Asia] for the October 6, [2019] shooting death in Marawi of a member of the AFP’s 553rd Engineer Battalion, a unit responsible for clearing unexploded ordnance,” it added.