The military unleashed two airstrikes in Sulu on Tuesday after President Rodrigo Duterte declared an all-out war against the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group.
According to a GMA News TV report, the military launched airstrikes on Patikul and Indanan towns after ASG members were sighted there.
Ground troops also fired heavy artillery into enemy territory, said Brig. Gen. Divino Rey Pabayo, commander of Joint Task Force Sulu.
“We are utilizing all the military, our every might, in chasing after the Abu Sayyaf. Our intensity [in attacking them] is the same as before,” Pabayo said.
In a related development, the twin bombings in Jolo, Sulu perpetrated by Abu Sayyaf members last Sunday is enough proof that Mindanao remains under terrorist threat, which justifies the extension of martial law in the southern Philippines, the chief state lawyer said on Tuesday.
During the oral arguments at the Supreme Court on petition assailing the constitutionality of the third extension of martial law declaration, Solicitor General Jose Calida said the bombings only strengthened the factual basis for the extension of Proclamation No. 216 for another year of until December 2019 as unconstitutional.
“That’s part of the ongoing rebellion. But even without Jolo bombing we already have factual basis (for the martial law extension),” Calida told the high court.
“There is still need to extend martial law because of the ongoing threat to public safety and the rebellion not only by communist groups but as well as the local terrorist groups, especially those Daesh-inspired groups,” Calida argued.
Major General Pablo Lorenzo, Armed Forces deputy chief of staff for intelligence, supported Calida’s statement and told the SC justices that the attack was a clear evidence of the need for public safety, which is a requirement in the Constitution for the declaration of martial law.
“The factual basis for the extension of martial law is anchored on the continuing rebellion being waged by the communist terrorist groups, and the local terrorist groups along with their foreign terrorist allies,” Lorenzo stressed.
“(The attack) demonstrates the continuing danger posed to the public by these terrorist groups while advancing their respective political objectives,” he stressed.