Financial aid to Maute group now more constricted —officials

Foreign financial aid to the Lanao-based Maute terror group will become more constricted with the United States' official tagging of the group as a terrorist organization, officials said Wednesday.

Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Bienvenido Datuin said the inclusion of the group, also called Islamic State of Lanao and Dawlah Islamiyah, in the US' terror list will allow the local authorities to effectively check the trail of financial aid that the group has been receiving from outside the country.

"Specific advantage on such declaration/list is the checking of money trail, financial sources, logistics lines and conduits of terror groups in foreign countries that may have connections with local violent extremists," Datuin said.

He said the declaration would also help the Philippines identify the Maute group's foreign connection.

In a separate statement, Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong said the Maute group and its foreign financiers will be denied access to the US financial system.

Andolong said this would weaken the Maute group's activities.

"The inclusion of the Maute Group and ISIS Philippines in the US list of foreign terrorist organizations is an affirmation of what Philippine authorities already know--that the Maute Group and the Dawlah-Islamiya are terrorist groups that need to be dealt with decisively using the full force of the law," he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte extended his declaration placing Mindanao under martial law until the end of 2018 to give the military and the police more time to go after terrorist groups in the southern region.

Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao in May 2017 following the Maute group's attack in Marawi City, which led a five-month crisis.

Among the known ISIS-affiliated groups in Mindanao are the Abu Sayyaf group, Maute group, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters and Ansar Al-Khilafah Philippines.

Duterte had also include the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army in the list of targets during the martial law period. The communist group is also included in the US' list of terrorist organizations. —ALG, GMA News