Lorenzana hopes Marawi conflict before Duterte address on July 24

June 27, 2017

Now there is a longer deadline to clear Marawi City of the Maute group. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the armed conflict in Marawi City may possibly end before the State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte on July 24. “Our operation continues, but it will be ended maybe before we will have our State of the Nation Address by July,” Lorenzana said in radio interview. “There is pressure, because you know if the Marawi (conflict) is still there and they are still fighting it seems that it is not good for the State of the Nation Address of the president. That is why when I asked , according to (AFP Chief of Staff) Gen. (Eduardo) Ano, he said, sir, after one more week maybe we were able to end that,” he added. Lorenzana said the military is targeting to end the armed conflict in Marawi for the start of rehabilitation. “What we want is to finish the Marawi (problem) before SONA for us to start the repair, recovery and rehabilitation,” he said. Lorenzana assured that the government will help families who lost their homes because of the bombing. “To those who have their houses damaged, I told them that the government will help to repair. We will help them. So that’s what we are going to do, to help our people to repair their houses, infrastructure, roads, water and electricity, ” he said. When asked about the possible extension of  martial law in Mindanao, Lorenzana said he would have to discuss this with the Armed Forces of the Philippines. “Right now the martial law is just one month. We still have one month. Let us see. Maybe after 15 days or 20 days we will know… He (Duterte) also said it will also depend on our recommendation with the Armed Forces to continue…I will talk with the AFP about it if it is needed,” he said. (Robina Asido/DMS)