Silent Guns

Critics of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte are on a continuing holiday of silence since government forces in late October obliterated the Maute group and freed Marawi City from the grip of the IS-linked local terror group after five months of a bloody siege that killed more than a hundred soldiers and policemen and civilians.

The guns from the critics remain in silent mode until today as Filipinos savor the euphoria of the country’s successful hosting of the just-concluded 2017 Association of Southeast Asean Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Manila.
Duterte’s handling of the Marawi crisis as well as the Manila Asean Summit had been hailed not only by Pinoys but also by leaders and people of other nations.

The President’s critics are right in not engaging in a verbal shootfest with the administration over these two events.

Already it was callousness that the political opposition, the militant groups and other critics of government did not join the national grief over government and civilian casualties in the bloody battle with the terrorists in Marawi nor did they praise government for its handling of the crisis. We did not even hear a word of thanks and gratitude that the crisis had ended.

There was also a deafening silence from their ranks as the country hosted the ASEAN Summit that not only brought economic benefits to the country as well as reinforced diplomatic relations with neighbors and allies.

In this cruel world, there are people who jubilate at the misery of others, and in the case of Marawi, would not care even if their countrymen are raped or killed.

While proclaiming themselves as champions of the people, these critics would not give a hoot about the success of the Asean Summit and the benefits it brought to the country.

It was a calculated move that critics kept their silence over Marawi and the Asean Summit. No praise nor glory, only silence.

For it would have been the height of extreme callousness if they questioned how the military and police, under the leadership of their commander, President Duterte, resolved the Marawi crisis.

In massive rallies and black propaganda campaigns that lasted up to mid-October before the liberation of Marawi City, critics led by elements of the opposition Liberal Party, the Church and militant groups assailed the Duterte administration over a litany of sins including the country’s alleged lack of economic direction. The ASEAN Summit is primarily both diplomacy and economics and they would have been out of synch if they criticized the event that could bring more investments to the country.

It had been a roller coaster ride over good news and more good news since the liberation of Marawi City on October 23 and the successful holding of the Asean Summit.

After the tsunami of praises for the government’s handling of the Marawi crisis came a flood of sympathy and aid for the beleaguered Muslim City.

The quick resolution to the crisis was not lost to the world fearing terrorism.

On October 23, President Duterte declared the city liberated from the grip of the Maute terror group after 154 days or about five months of battle with the local jihadists linked to the Middle East-based Islami State (IS), considered today as the world’s most violent terrorist organization.

For the record, the battle with the Maute started on May 23, a day after more than a thousand of the local jihadists led by Isnilon Hapilon, the Southeasrt Asian emir of the IS, attacked Marawi and held a large part of the Lanao del Sur capital city.

In the Middle East where IS had controlled for years a wide swathe of Syria and Iraq, it took more than three years for a coalition of Kurdish and Arab militias advised by U.S. Special Forces to liberate the declared capitals of IS: Raqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.

The implication of the speedy resolution of the Marawi siege by the Maute terrorists is appreciated by nations facing terror threats from IS: It nipped in the bud the worldwide expansion of the violent extremism of the IS, that eyed Marawi as its caliphate and the Philippines as the epicenter of its terroristic activities in Southeast Asia.

As we said, the Duterte administration has been on a roller coaster ride over good news and more good news since the liberation of Marawi, up to the ASEAN Summit and in-between.

Add to that Miss Philippines Karen Ibasco winning as Miss Earth 2017 and Miss Philipines Winwyn Marquez bagging the Reina Hispano Americana 2017 crown.

Also add my boxing “lodi” from Panabo City, Jerwin Ancajas, who massacred Jamie Conlan in their IBF Junior Featherweight clash over the weekend.

Halleluyah!