Duterte confirms ex-Marawi mayor on narco-list negotiating with Maute

President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday night confirmed that he has allowed a former Marawi City mayor to negotiate with the Maute group.

"He was commissioned by [Presidential Peace Adviser Secretary Jesus] Dureza. It was with the acquiescence, not expressly, ni Secretary [Delfin] Lorenzana," Duterte said in an interview during his visit to wounded soldiers at Camp Evangelista ni Cagayan de Oro City.

Duterte was referring to former Marawi City mayor Omar Solitario Ali, who was included in the arrest order issued by the Department of National Defense against people who have alleged links to the Marawi siege.

Solitario is also included in Duterte's list of nacro-politicians.

A month after the Marawi sige by the Maute group, police recovered P10 million worth of shabu from the house of the former mayor, who is also accused as a financier of the Maute group.

Duterte said that Ali had sent a message expressing his willingness to work the the government in resolving the Marawi crisis.

"Sabi niya, 'I'm better off working for you than putting me in prison,'" the President said.

He said that he met with Dureza and Lorenzana to talk about Ali's offer.

"Then he proposed many things, mostly about talking peace to the Mautes or bargaining doon sa 'yung mga hostages. More ako doon sa release ng hostages. I confirm that it really happened," Duterte said.

The President, meanwhile, assured Maute group members that they will be properly treated should they decide to surrender.

"They will be treated as criminals. If they surrender, they will be prosecuted. But they will be treated as human being," he said.

In the same media interview, Duterte reiterated that he is not imposing an deadline to the military to end the Marawi crisis.

He said he is willing to wait for a year just to make sure that the remaining civilian hostages will be released or rescued alive.

He said the remaining Maute group members are holed up with civilian hostages in a mosque inside the battle area. 

Duterte placed the entire Mindanao under martial law after the Maute group's attack in the city last May 23.

More than 130 soldiers, more than 600 Maute members and 45 civilians have been killed in the ongoing crisis. —ALG, GMA News