Duterte blames Maranaos anew for 'letting' in terrorists in Marawi 

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday blamed Maranaos anew for "letting" terrorists seize Marawi City in Lanao del Sur.

"Ganun na lang ang galit ko sa mga kapwa ko Maranao. Sabi ko galit ako bakit ninyo pinapasok itong mga p*** na 'to. Why did you allow the terrorist and they could have built that kind of ordnance until now marami sila," Duterte said during his speech at the 50th Founding Anniversary of Davao del Sur in Digos City.

The President had spoken out against Maranaos for supposedly allowing corrupt foreign ideology to destroy the city.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella, however, was quick to clarify that Duterte was not referring to all Maranaos when he expressed his disdain for what happened in Marawi City.

Duterte also floated the possibility of conducting a probe on how the Maute group managed to gather explosives and ammunition in Marawi City.

"Most of our soldiers suffering puro shrapnel, puro explosives and san sila nakaipon ng ganun karami? That is something to look into maybe after the fight," he said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said that as of June 29, a total of 82 soldiers and policemen have been killed in the ongoing conflict.

A total of 303 militants have also been killed while 44 civilians have been confirmed slain by the terrorists, the military added.

Duterte, meanwhile, reiterated his stance that there will never be talks with terror groups.

"I will never never talk to the terrorists and there will be no forgiving there and that war in Marawi will continue until the last terrorist is taken out... di talaga ako papayag because it is a brutal and cruel organization," Duterte said.

"To me they have no redeeming factor at all except that they are terrorists and they simply want to kill," he added. —ALG, GMA News