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keithmarlor · 5 years

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The Battle of Marawi: Event Analysis

The Battle of Marawi:

When thinking about the Philippines, domestic terrorism is not something that comes to mind, especially from jihadist extremist groups. In a country where around 5.6% of the population is Muslim, it is shocking to find that a group like ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has found a reason to infiltrate a major city in the Republic. The Battle of Marawi, also known as the Seige of Marawi was the longest battle in the history of the Philippines (After World War II) which began on May 23rd, 2017 and lasted five months ending in October. Marawi is a city situated on the southern island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Marawi is the largest Muslim city in the Philippines which is a predominantly catholic country. The two parties involved in the conflict were Philippine Government Forces and homegrown militants affiliated with two different branches of the terrorist group ISIS. Both Abu Sayyaf and Maute fighters clashed with Filipino forces following the attempted arrest of top ISIL leader Isnilon Hapilon. The fighters declared the city a new caliphate of ISIL, caliphate meaning an area claimed as an Islamic State. Catholic churches were burned as well as schools, police officers were taken into the streets and beheaded in front of residents. On the night of the attacks, President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire island region of Mindanao.

The city was taken by force, in the form of ISIS gunmen controlling major points of the city simultaneously. While this occurred government forces took control of all major exits and egresses out of the city such as bridges and highways. The end goal for the occupation of Marawi was to raise an Islamic State flag at the cities Capitol (Lanao del Sur Provincial)and to declare a Wilayah which means that they essentially own the territory. This attempt to obtain and to claim the city of Marawi as their own would have a futile result as the battle ended with a Government victory on October 23rd, 2017. After five months of relentless battling, the death toll was as follows: 920 militants, 165 soldiers, 47 civilians killed and more than 1,780 hostages were rescued from militants.

The city of Marawi remains a ghost town to this day nearly two years after the battle. The evidence of conflict remains incredibly evident throughout the city as if no attempt to rebuild has been made. The threat of unexploded devices remains, and many parts of the city are still under strict military control.

This significant event in the Philippines history relates to our topic of populism very well because this battle was Rodrigo Duterte’s largest test to date. The battle-tested the nation's charismatic strongman by showing the citizens how he acted under extreme circumstances. Cas Mudde and Cristòbal Rovira Kaltwasser define a charismatic strongman as “A strong leader, who exercises a power that is independent of any office and free of any constraint” (Mude & Kaltwasser, pg. 63). While Duterte does hold the highest political office he still acts as if he is free of any restraints which give him his love (and hate)- ability. Along with criticism for letting this battle occur in the first place, Duterte also faced extreme backlash from many who claimed he used excessive air and ground attacks. Almost two years later Duterte is continuing to face this backlash in the form of broken promises he made to help Marawi refugees “rise and recover.” I believe he said this to not only “name a people” (Jutel, pg.251) as Olivier Jutel said, but also to give the people listening an identity of those affected so they could feel empathy towards them.

The Battle of Marawi remains as one of the most significant events in the history of the Philippines and for good reason. The way that the government reacts to events like these in a time of crisis is indicative of how they will perform when similar events occur down the road. ISIS may continue to be a threat but the Philippines is now better prepared for whatever may come there way.

#BattleofMarawi #thephilippines #RodrigoDuterte #battle #populism

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