23 October 2017•Update: 24 October 2017
By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday night heightened his call to Filipinos to remain vigilant in light of the continuing, dangerous threat from the Daesh terror group.
Duterte made this call as the top military commanders in Mindanao declared the fight is over in the strife-torn Marawi City, where the last 20 remaining hostages held by Maute militants were rescued.
"In the coming days, with the siege that happened in Marawi, I'm not trying to scare you. Let's just be prepared for any eventuality. Terrorism is everywhere," he said in a speech in Bacolod City,
Mr. Duterte's speech was aired by the Presidential Broadcast Staff Radio-Television Malacanang (PBS-RTVM).
He said no nation has escaped from the clutches of the evil of ISIS. "It' an ideology that is dedicated to just kill human beings and destroy the places whatever, or what kind, heritage and all."
Earlier, the President warned of a retaliatory attack from terrorists following the deaths of the Daesh emir for Southeast Asia Abu Sayyaf head Isnilon Hapilon, Maute brothers, and their foreign backers.
Mr. Duterte said what happened in Marawi was an awful thing to see evolving before the human eyes thus, the public must always be prepared and exercise a little bit of caution.
"... And everything and it would help if everybody also could watch everybody, not really a profiling. I hate it, I do not wait," he continued. "Please take care that nothing of this sort will happen again especially here on the Visayas."
Calling on the public to give tribute to the soldiers who went through hell in quelling the terror threat in Marawi, Duterte expressed deep gratitude to the troops for fighting the Mautes.
"You treat your soldiers well. They have sacrificed for this country," Duterte said. "Give them a party, invite them because they really went into hell and others did not make it," he quipped.
The President, meantime, said he was saddened by the deaths of the soldiers and policemen during the Marawi crisis.
In May 23, Duterte declared martial law across the southern Philippines after the Daesh-linked Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists laid siege to the city of Marawi.
The five-month conflict claimed 1,109 lives -- 165 military and police, 897 militants, and 47 civilians deaths.
Authorities said 1,777 civilians, who were either held as hostages or trapped in the crossfire were rescued and more than 400,000 residents displaced.
