The Office of the Solicitor General has revealed that the government learned about the Maute group’s plan to occupy Marawi City five days before the militants moved in on May 23.
A month before the siege, rebel leader Abdullah Maute ordered some of his men to conduct bombings, rob cars, and assassinate state troopers in Marawi and nearby cities.
“The planned attack, however, was foiled when government troops conducted a raid in pursuit of Isnilon Hapilon (one of the Maute group leader) in Barangay Basak Malutlut. This forced the rebels to prematurely execute the Marawi siege,” Solicitor General Jose Calida said in a consolidated statement submitted to the Supreme Court.
The Inquirer said the OSG disclosed the information to convince the Supreme Court to deny petitions questioning President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law in Mindanao.
Calida said the petitions failed to cite under which provision of the Rules of Court the petitions were filed and merely mentioned Section 18, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution.
“They did not say what proceeding they are filing or under what rule. Is it certiorari? If it is a certiorari [petition], they did not allege grave abuse of discretion,” Inquirer quoted Calida as saying.
He added that Duterte’s proclamation of martial in the entire Mindanao was backed by factual reasons and information provided by the military.
“We invite this honorable court to uphold the President’s timely advice and decisive action and be his partner in protecting and defending the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Calida said.
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