If this is true, about Islamic Militants claiming responsibility behind the cowardly bombing of Mindanao State University (MSU), which killed eleven people and injured scores of others, then the billions of pesos worth of destruction that former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte wrought against Maranaos went all for naught.

Remember that Mr. Duterte claimed to have succeeded in exterminating this group from Marawi City way back in 2017 see link: http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-10/18/c_136688160.htm\

Even his own Defense Secretary Lorenzana declared way back in 2019 that the Philippines, or at least Mindanao, is hosting no more foreign terrorist elements, and then this bombing happened. See link: https://www.philstar.com/nation/2020/07/24/2030166/afp-no-more-foreign-terrorists-philippines?fbclid=IwAR1IDJUJaqFyY4ib5pkkRehm_B2NJRs1bPa_t53LNk8DA0-7o_AUO7JgEac.

Because of Mr. Duterte’s use of draconian measures to kill these militants, “his” military destroyed the entire Marawi city, which, until this day, remains uninhabited. After squeezing every international publicity juice from the war, Mr. Duterte and his minions left residents of Marawi in refugee camps. The government allocated billions of pesos worth for the city’s rehabilitation, yet until now, the city remains a ghost town.

The fact is, Marawi City has become a symbol of how stupid, how impractical, and how ineffective using military force is to counter an ideologically driven insurgency. Yes, the war probably fed the egos of several high-ranking Philippine officials, and some even lined their pockets in the process.

AFP Chief of Staff Romeo Brawner Junior says the bomb signature of this bombing in Marawi with that of the 2019 Jolo Cathedral bombing seems the same. : https://www.rappler.com/nation/mindanao/security-officials-probing-possible-links-marawi-blast-2023-jolo-cathedral-bombing-2019/

It points to the Islamic-Maute group. So, are they still capable? I thought Mr. Duterte and his hawks had already defanged them and left them to rot in the field of battle.

The curious thing about this is that in the 2019 bombing, news outlets did not make a big thing out of it despite also people killed there. Now, every outlet has this as a headline, leading to several speculations that this bombing may have a message other than what is believed.

Isn’t it strange that an internationally known terrorist group would create another war thousands of kilometers away from the main religious battlefront, such as Palestine? Islamic fundamentalists are having a field day squeezing every publicity juice on Gaza that it would seem strange for them to divide international attention when they are getting exceptional publicity on the carnage being undertaken by Israeli forces in Gaza.

It would be more rational that the message is simply this: this bombing wants to tell this administration to re-direct its focus from external defense issues such as that of the West Philippine Sea since this country still suffers from local terrorism. This has been the thread being pursued by trolls and political operators of the destabilizers from a local political elite group out to reclaim their power from this administration.

Likewise, why would legitimate Moro fighters destabilize their holy city with a bombing when they already have their governance set up in the South? There has been no local terrorist incident involving the MILF and even its splinter group for some time. The highly unified disclaimer statements issued by the local Muslim community tell us that the Muslim community in the South wants nothing but peace and stability. If the fish pond is totally against terrorism, how will a militant survive and even operate in that condition? Unless, of course, a militant gets support from outside Marawi from a highly political group out to reclaim power….

Wait for my other explosive piece….the Filipino People deserve the truth.