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posted by n1 on Friday May 26 2017, @04:17PM   Printer-friendly

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law Tuesday in the southern region of Mindanao, after deadly clashes between security forces and Islamic State group-linked militants in a major city there.

The announcement, made by his spokesman at a press conference in Moscow where Duterte was on an official visit, fulfills an often-repeated warning by the president that he would enforce military rule to quell security threats. "As of 10:00pm Manila time (1400 GMT) Duterte has declared martial law for the entire island of Mindanao," spokesman Ernesto Abella said in the nationally televised briefing. Abella said martial law would be in place for 60 days, in line with constitutional limits on the use of military rule.

Martial law is particularly sensitive in the Philippines because it was used by dictator Ferdinand Marcos to remain in power during his two-decade reign, which ended in 1986 with a "People Power" revolution.

Mindanao is made up of a large island of the same name, plus smaller islands, and the region of about 20 million people makes up roughly one third of the mainly Catholic country.

[...] The announcement came after security forces battled dozens of IS-linked gunmen in a built-up area of Marawi, a city of about 200,000 people in Mindanao, on Tuesday.

Source: Yahoo! News

In the Philippines, concerns are mounting over the proliferation of Islamic State affiliates on the southern islands of Mindanao. Jihadist groups in the region have been coalescing under the extremist group's flag since the head of Abu Sayyaf, Isnilon Hapilon, declared his allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in 2014. Less than a decade earlier, Mindanao's various Islamic State affiliates were a jumble of local gangs engaged in criminal activity under the dubious banner of jihad.

By adopting the Islamic State's moniker and mimicking some of its tactics, Hapilon and other jihadist leaders in the Philippines have gained legitimacy, along with notoriety, as part of a well-known, transnational movement. But beyond that, the benefits of taking up the Islamic State banner have been marginal.

Source: Stratfor article published earlier this year.

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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 26 2017, @05:35PM (8 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 26 2017, @05:35PM (#516041)

    The sad part is I can't tell if this is sarcastic or serious...

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  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by ikanreed on Friday May 26 2017, @05:42PM (7 children)

    by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Friday May 26 2017, @05:42PM (#516044) Journal

    I'd lean towards serious, because the name "ISIS" will basically break some people's brains and they'll instantly drop any facade of supporting democracy or rule of law or even human decency.

    They can't even fathom that they're supporting someone who is, in pretty much every respect, almost as bad as ISIS to their own citizens, who will happily brand any political dissident a terrorist for convenience sake, and has already murdered thousands of his own citizens in completely unrelated military crackdowns to this one.

    Because "Strong man make bad guys die" appeals to the child psyche of certain people.

    • (Score: 2) by Bot on Friday May 26 2017, @08:23PM (2 children)

      by Bot (3902) on Friday May 26 2017, @08:23PM (#516110) Journal

      Well, naming yourself after an Egyptian goddess is a bit of a giveaway, and renaming yourself after the 'net notice that is a bigger giveaway.

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      Account abandoned.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @04:29PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @04:29PM (#516453)

        Giveaway of what?

        PS, they never named themselves ISIS. They named themselves, "ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām."
        Its only westerners who have decided to call them ISIS (or ISIL)
        Buuuut, I get the feeling that facts don't really matter to you, do they?

        • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:07PM

          by Bot (3902) on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:07PM (#516514) Journal

          > "ad-Dawlah al-Islāmiyah fī 'l-ʿIrāq wa-sh-Shām."

          The guys who make perfect propaganda beheading videos hollywood style decided to use such a name as trademark? Interesting.

          > Its only westerners who have decided to call them ISIS

          well, you create it, you get to name it.

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          Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 26 2017, @11:00PM (2 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday May 26 2017, @11:00PM (#516181)

      These "ISIS" are scum and doesn't belong in a civilized society. Instead they do anything to attack decent people and because of that the number of people that want to treat them decently declines rapidly. Now even whole countries turn on them.

      • (Score: 2) by ikanreed on Saturday May 27 2017, @03:11PM (1 child)

        by ikanreed (3164) Subscriber Badge on Saturday May 27 2017, @03:11PM (#516428) Journal

        Do you think the disagreement I have with you is that I think ISIS isn't a predominantly backwards group with feudal-era ethics?

        • (Score: 2) by Bot on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:16PM

          by Bot (3902) on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:16PM (#516520) Journal

          feudal era ethics?

          Feudal era had people going to war in the proper way. It was monsieur Napoleon who started messing with etiquette.

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          Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:42AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 27 2017, @08:42AM (#516343)

      We will lose democracy if we fail to defend it. That means we must vote (democracy) for laws (rule of law) that get rid of people who are toxic to democracy.

      If this fails, which is likely, then we get into a desperate situation. Nobody will care about democracy when their family members are being raped, thrown from roofs, shot, and beheaded. We'll choose to end democracy if the invaders don't do it for us, and then we will fight for our lives and probably lose.

      This is how our civilization ends.