Honasan: ‘Fight terrorism with education’
Senator Gregorio Honasan in a seminar on Wednesday, October 25, asserted that educating the youth as tomorrow’s leaders and builders of this nation can stop terrorism from prevailing.
Terrorism is the way to get people the people’s attention by wrecking havoc and taking lives, the senator explained.
“[Terrorism] is a violent or destructive act committed to intimidate the people and government. The more violence, the better,” he said.
He added: “[In terrorism], you kill as many people as you can. You destroy as many lives [and] properties as you can.”
More than 900 persons have already been killed in the Marawi battle, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced on September 29.
The siege in Marawi is a political and an economic situation and a social problem that is caused by injustice, according to Honasan.
Honasan also stated that the Marawi war is “not a religious war but a political war.”
The Filipino people, however, were driven to fight by faith, hope and love, Honasan expressed.
“We (Filipinos) are fighting for development, lasting peace and prosperity for all people,” he added.
Honasan also shared that a lot of unwarranted fear from the people came with the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao.
Last May 23, the extremist Maute group attacked Marawi.
President Duterte declared Martial Law in Marawi, including Tawi-Tawi, Sulu and Basilan, the night of the attack.
The state of Marawi
Lanao Del Sur Provincial Crisis Management Committee (PCMC) spokesman Zia Alonto Adiong, moreover, discussed the events during the war in Marawi, the capital of Lanao Del Sur.
“You have two options, it’s either you stay and die in [Marawi] or move to Ilagan City,” Adiong said.
“I [was] included in the 359,000 individuals displaced without a home, property--without anything. It was literally like a biblical exodus,” he added.
LDS-PCMC reported a total of 140,155 residents, nearly 70-percent of Marawi’s population, that fled to nearby cities, including Ilagan.
Out of the 96 towns in Marawi, 34 were completely damaged because of the war, LDS-PCMC data showed.
Adiong further stated that the war created a “human crisis” in the city, dislocating the people from their area, various opportunities and livelihood.
“There was no food and no one to go to because everyone fled,” Adiong shared.
The war also affected the surrounding cities of Marawi, he explained.
Duterte officially declared Marawi liberated from terrorists last Oct. 17, following the death of Abu Sayyaf subleader Isnilon Hapilon and Maute Group leader Omar Maute in an encounter with the military the day before.
On Oct. 23, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced that the war was finally over.
According to Adiong, the estimated cost of damage of the war is 8-billion pesos in terms of capital and revenue each day.
The seminar, titled “WARawi: An Economic Battle between Siege and Recovery,” was held in the University of Santo Tomas (UST). D. SANCHEZ, S. TIO
