By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
As the fight with pro-Daesh forces in the southern city of Marawi entered its third week on Tuesday, there are signs the battle could help bring together the government and rebel groups against the extremists.
Since May 23, fighters from the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups, which have both pledged allegiance to Daesh, have held off government troops from retaking Marawi City on the island of Mindanao.
The crisis, which led President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law across the island, has seen the government forge closer ties to rebel groups involved in decades-old insurgencies against Manila.
Armed groups -- including separatists, communists, clan-based militias and criminal gangs -- have all contributed to conflicts in the southern Philippines dating to the late 1960s.
Some fear that Daesh, currently being squeezed in Iraq and Syria, is trying to exploit existing conflicts to establish a foothold in the Philippines. Foreign militants from as far afield as Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Chechnya are among those fighting in Marawi City.
The violence has seen up to 38 civilians killed and the same number of security personnel. A presidential spokesman said Monday that 120 militants had been killed.
Last week, the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) offered to help fight against the Daesh-affiliated groups.
The group’s armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), has been fighting since the early 1970s, resulting in an estimated 30,000 deaths in what is believed to be the world’s oldest communist insurgency.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said the government welcomed the NDFP’s “firm commitment to join the fight against the Maute group, the Abu Sayyaf and other terrorist groups in the Philippines,” the Inquirer news portal reported Monday.
Peace corridor
A cease-fire deal is now expected as government troops and the NPA work together. The NDFP said its fighters, who are active across the Philippines, could be redeployed to areas around Marawi and the neighboring province of Cotabato.
Senior NDFP adviser Luis Jalandoni said communist guerillas would join the government “in opposing the Maute group and the Abu Sayyaf.”
The Communist Party of the Philippines had previously ordered the NPA to intensify attacks on the army and police following the introduction of martial law.
Meanwhile, leaders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) have helped create a “peace corridor” to allow civilians to leave Marawi City. The group has been involved in on-off peace talks since 1997.
In a statement, Chairman Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim said: “MILF stands in solidarity with the people of Marawi and Lanao del Sur.
“The MILF forces have been directed to help the government thwart attempts by terrorists to derail the peace in local communities.”
Jesus Dureza, the presidential peace process adviser, said the corridor was a testament to the success of the Bangsamoro peace process between the government, the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and its vision of an “open, inclusive, compassionate, just and cooperative” society.
He added: “This is the complete opposite of the kind of society the terrorists want in Marawi -- a closed, isolationist, violent, ruthless society ruled by fear with total disregard for human life and the integrity of our government and our diverse Philippine society.”
In a further sign of bridge-building, Duterte has reassured the NPA, the MILF and the MNLF that the imposition of martial law was not aimed at them.
Support for government
Abu Sayyaf and the MILF both broke away from the MNLF while the Maute group is believed to be led by two brothers with family ties to the MILF.
Mujiv Hataman, governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, called for all groups to back the government against Abu Sayyaf and Maute.
“The president’s efforts to eliminate terrorism has all our support... We are behind him all the way to end this insurgency as soon as possible,” he told Anadolu Agency.
“Local leaders should be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism or extremism.”
Nur Misuari, who founded the MNLF in 1971 to create an independent state before signing a peace agreement with the government 25 years later, sent a letter to Duterte last week offering 5,000 MNLF fighters.
In a move to attract rebel fighters, Duterte has promised pay and conditions similar to those of government troops. Many former MNLF members have already been successfully integrated into the military.
Mahmur Edding, a political scientist at Western Mindanao State University, welcomed the support from rebels but called for prolonged dialogue between the government and militant groups beyond the crisis in Marawi.
“If they want to have a united front then they must engage in a dialogue with all sectors,” he told Anadolu Agency.
“First and foremost, let's all condemn violence. Every peace-loving Filipino must condemn all forms of violence -- it may be state violence or violence from any sector.”
Abu Sayyaf leader
He singled out cooperation with the communists as a “very good manifestation” but added that there was “no substitute for… democratic dialogue to once and for all solve the problem of insurgency in the country, particularly here in Mindanao.”
Antonio La Vina, the former head at the Ateneo School of Government, warned of the risks of coordination between the different combatants.
“I would say that the MNLF and MILF fighters should stay out of this because it’s going to get very confusing,” he said.
“There will be lots of friendly fire and before we know it, they’re firing at each other.”
The Marawi City siege -- the Daesh-tied militants still control around 10 percent of the city, which is capital to Lanao del Sur province -- began when security forces reportedly attempted to capture Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, who is recognized by Daesh as its emissary in southeast Asia.
This followed an intensified wave of terror attacks in the southwestern provinces of Tawi-Tawi and Sulu that saw Abu Sayyaf behead two Canadians and a German.
Hapilon left his home on the island province of Basilan in January to join up with the Maute group in Central Mindanao and establish a territorial base.
The violence came ahead of the submission of the Bangsamoro Basic Law to Congress next month. The law will implement a landmark 2014 peace deal between the government and rebels and create a new regional government in western Mindanao.
