Marines recover P79-M cash, checks from Maute lair in Marawi

Members of the Philippine Marines have recovered P79-million cash and checks from a stronghold of the Maute group in Marawi City.

In a post on Facebook, GMA News' Raffy Tima said the Marines have "slowly entered" the stronghold of the local terror group in Barangay Mapandi.

Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera, 1st Infantry Battalion spokesperson, said P52.2 million cash and P27 million worth of checks were found in the Maute group's stronghold.

Lt. Gen. Carlito Galvez, commander of Western Mindanao Command, said the cash and checks were found during a house-to-house clearing by the Marines in the village.

“Marine forces doing house-to-house clearing against the terrorists recovered the amount and under constant fire, a team extricated the area to surrender the millions to the [headquarters] of Task Force Marawi,” he said.

Galvez said the cash and checks will turned over to appropriate law enforcement units as authorities trace the source.

Brig. Gen. Joselito Rolando Bautista, commander of Task Force Marawi, said the recovery of the cash and check was proof that the soldiers do not engage in looting and the AFP will not tolerate such.

“This also breaks the propaganda of Maute/ASG and their sympathizers in peddling twisted data and disinformation accusing our soldiers of every conceivable crime. In contrast, the Maute/ASG vandalized, looted and burned school buildings, hospital rooms, houses and destroyed many properties in Marawi," Bautista said in the same press conference.

In a separate post, Tima also showed the destruction left by fighting between government forces and Maute group on the city's center.

The conflict entered its 14th day on Tuesday.

Malacañang had reported that 30 civilians had been confirmed killed by the Maute group during the attack, which started on May 23.

President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao the same day while he was on an official trip in Russia.

The military said more than 100 Maute group members and nearly 40 government soldiers had been killed in the clashes. —Amita Legaspi/ALG, GMA News