The Armed Forces of the Philippines will not recommend the lifting of Martial Law in Mindanao despite the success in killing the two leaders of Maute Group in Marawi City.
AFP chief-of-staff Gen. Eduardo Año stressed there are still terror threats in other places in the island region that needed to be addressed.
“Meron pang mga threats dito na kailangan pang tapusin katulad ng Basilan at Sulu pati na rin Maguindanao, yan ay ang susunod na step na ating gagawin (There are still threats that need to be addressed such as in Basilan, Sulu and Maguindanao and that is our next step),” he said.
Año said the troops that liberated Marawi City will be deployed in these places to address the threats.
“Pagpupursigihan natin na masupil ang mga terrorists sa mga lugar na iyon (We will do our best to eradicate the terrorists in those areas),” he said.
The military is leaving to the discretion of President Rodrigo R. Duterte to lift Martial Law.
He said that he can recommend to the president to lift the Martial Law only in some areas.
“Magkakaroon pa tayo ng assessment (We will still have an assessment),” he said.
Meanwhile, Año bared that the 8,000 new recruits for the Philippine Army will be completed by November of this year which majority of these will be deployed in Mindanao.
He also said that after the Marawi City crisis, the whole force of AFP will be focused in eradicating the rebel New People’s Army.
“By January, additional 5,000 troops will be recruited sapagkat gusto natin mangyari na sa katapusan ng 2018, wala ng CPP-NPA sa buong Pilipinas (because we want to happen that by the end of 2018 there will be no CPP-NPA in the whole Philippines),” he said.
