Manila: Maute and Abu Sayyaf militants stole an estimated half a billion pesos from three banks when they stormed Marawi City, officials said.
The banks were deprived of an estimated 500 million pesos (Dh36 million),” Col Jo-Ar Herrera, spokesman of the military’s Task Force at Marawi City said on Tuesday during a daily briefing on the situation in the South. The money was looted from various branches of Al Amanah Islamic Investment Bank of the Philippines, the Land Bank and the Philippine National Bank.
The militants belonging to Maute and Abu Sayyaf, led by Isnilon Hapilon, went on rampage on May 23, during which they also held hundreds of people hostage.
While the Maute and Abu Sayyaf claimed to have started a Daesh-backed uprising in Marawi City with an objective to establish a so-called caliphate in Southern Philippines, its real motives have started to surface now. The Maute and Abu Sayyaf militants carefully planned the looting of branches of three banks in Marawi City. The events in Marawi City were similar to an incident in April 1995 when the Abu Sayyaf gunmen had ransacked eight banks in Ipil town, which is now known as Zamboanga Sibugay. At that time they looted an estimated one billion pesos from the banks, plundered and burnt down the municipality building and took many people hostage. A total 53 people had been killed in Ipil incident.
The fighting in Marawi City have so far claimed 534 people lives, which include 410 Maute militants, 85 police and military personnel and 39 civilians.
While the Philippines was left on its own in confronting Abu Sayyaf in 1995, this time the United States, Australia and European Union are helping them fight the joint Maute and Abu Sayyaf threat.
US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim recently said that he had a discussion recently with President Rodrigo Duterte on “shared concerns regarding terrorist threat” while affirming support for reconstruction and rehabilitation in Marawi City.
Aside from providing support in terms of arms and training to Philippine troops, the US has been a strong partner since 1999 against terrorism.
The EU has provided €850,000 to provide emergency assistance to displaced civilians in Marawi City.
“The unprecedented violence in Marawi has forced tens of thousands of families to flee their homes, leaving everything behind. This has triggered a sharp increase in humanitarian needs as many of the displaced people are currently deprived of fundamental means to sustain their day-to-day lives”, said Pedro-Luis Rojo, Head of the East, South East Asia and Pacific Regional Office for the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations.
“This grant from the EU will support the delivery of immediate life-saving assistance to those most in need, and contribute to increased protection of populations affected by the conflict,” he added.
