Time to set aside politics amid ISIS call to intensify attacks :Abella

June 14, 2017

Malacanang urged on Wednesday Filipinos to set aside politics amid the recent call of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria to intensify attacks. In the "Mindanao Hour" briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said with the country's sovereignty being confronted by the IS-linked Maute Terror Group, it is time for Filipinos to be united. "Our sovereignty is being confronted and I believe it’s time to set aside petty politics and the things that separate us," he said. "It’s really high time and I believe it’s a call to the Filipino nation to be able to stand together as one. It’s high time we do that," he said. Some quarters, including opposition lawmakers, have been questioning before the Supreme Court the factual basis of President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration of martial law in the whole of Mindanao. Duterte imposed martial rule in the southern part of the country after the Maute militants started attacking and occupying Marawi City on May 23. His basis for the martial law proclamation was the ongoing "rebellion and invasion" in Marawi by the terrorist group. "The Philippines needs to make a united stand and that it needs to understand that we --- this is no longer intramurals within ourselves, but we need to be united against a common enemy," Abella said. (Celerina Monte/DMS)