[PhilStar] Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has suspended the military offensive in Marawi, citing concerns over the safety of some 300 civilians being held by Islamic rebels still holed up in some parts of the besieged city. His instructions came on the heels of Congress’ vote to allow the extension of martial law in Mindanao until the end of the year.The safety of the civilians, he pointed out, is the primary consideration of government security forces. He said, "I don’t care if they are Moros or Christians. I don’t want these innocents to be slaughtered so hintay lang tayo (let’s just wait). Patience."
Duterte admitted that the Marawi crisis “has dealt a terrible blow to our quest for peace, especially now that an alien ideology and a radical shift in purpose have been injected into the local setting.”
“I declared martial law in Mindanao because I believed that that was the fastest way to quell the rebellion at the least cost of lives and properties. At the same time, the government would be adequately equipped with the constitutional tool not only to prevent the escape of rebels who can easily mingle and pretend to be civilian evacuees only to re-group in another place to fight another day, but also to prevent them from spreading their gospel of hate and violence in the rest of Mindanao,” Duterte said.