Five Marawi residents rescued during Eid’l Fitr truce

A day after the military reported that some 300 individuals are still trapped in Marawi City, only five were rescued during the eight-hour ceasefire staged to observe Eid'l Fitr, according to a report by Alan Gatus on dzBB on Sunday afternoon.

Troops from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) took the "humanitarian pause" as a window of opportunity to bring to safety a one-year-old baby and four other civilians before the truce ended at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

One of the rescued individuals told dzBB that the members of the Maute group were forcing those left behind to fight for them.

They were reportedly being given weapons and ISIS uniforms before being brought to the front lines as pawns in the battle with government forces.

Still to be verified

The military is also working to verify reports that the Maute bandits are using hostages as human shields and making them pick up bombs.

Task Force Marawi spokesperson Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera added that there have also been as-yet "unvalidated" reports that several hostages have been killed by the terrorists.

"These are all unverified. We want to collate evidence-based results," he said in a press conference.

At least 100 more Maute members prowl Marawi, AFP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said in an earlier report on Sunday.

Rush home

The military had stressed that even during the eight-hour ceasefire, government forces would still be on alert for possible attacks. Padilla said that the caution was necessary because the Maute group does not abide by the proper practices of Islam.

“May nilagay lang po tayong parameters dahil meron tayong kinakaharap diyan na isang grupo na hindi kinikilala ang tamang kaugalian ng ating mga kapatid na Muslim...Kaya’t ganu’n na lang po ang ating kawalang-tiwala sa grupo na ‘yan,” he told radio dzBB.

During the "humanitarian pause," which started at 6 a.m. on Sunday, some 2,000 Marawi residents who had evacuated to Iligan City prepared to join the Ranao Rescue Team (RRT) to rush home to Marawi to aid in rescue efforts.

Five rescue teams from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and "cadaver retrieval" teams of the Lanao del Sur Crisis Management Committee were also set to head the conflict zone during the ceasefire, according to Assistant Secretary Dickson Hermoso of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Shots before truce's end

Despite the truce—as well as the rules of Islam listing the waging of war during Eid'l Fitr as a grave sin—the terror group was heard firing shots before the scheduled end of the ceasefire at 2 p.m.

The "humanitarian pause" was imposed by the military to allow Muslims in Marawi City to observe Eid'l Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.

However, Muslim residents were emotionally feeling the bitterness of observing the religious feast in Marawi, ARMM assemblyman and spokesperson of the Provincial Crisis Management Command Zia Alonto Adiong told dzBB.

"Almost a hundred mosques in Marawi City alone, but I guess only two or three mosques ang napuntahan ng mga tao dahil ang mga mosque nga ay walang imam, walang magpe-pray, walang tao," Adiong said. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM, GMA News