# Those better informed, pls enlighten re Duturte/martial law in Mindanao?? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 24, 2017, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330 "2017-05-24T08:53:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2017, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/1 "2017-05-24T08:53:29Z")
Just reading in newsfeed that Rodrigo Duturte has declared Martial Law in Mindanao in order to rid the island of ISIS and/or other Islamic militants. I am not au fait with Philippino politics, so any opinions will be appreciated! ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/2 "2017-05-27T08:21:39Z")
What do you want to know? Sticking to the plain facts: The Maute Group is a splinter group of the Abu Sayyaf, Islamic separatists that have been a thorn in the side of Filipino society for decades. They have attacked public establishments and Army barracks in Marawi City, declaring allegiance to ISIS. The situation was serious enough that President Duterte cut short his state visit to Russia. Whether the situation was serious enough to warrant declaring Martial Law throughout the entire island of Mindanao remains to be seen. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/3 "2017-05-27T08:38:24Z")
The issue is that Duerte is very dictatorial and wants people to kill drug users and criminals, so, to me at least, it’s not clear if he will overreact. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/4 "2017-05-27T16:11:33Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > The issue is that Duerte is very dictatorial and wants people to kill drug users and criminals, so, to me at least, it’s not clear if he will overreact. That’s a big part of it, but I think what some people don’t know about the Philippines is that it has a significant Muslim minority, especially in Mindanao (in the south). Most Filipinos are Catholic, reflecting the centuries of Spanish rule, but Islam in that country predates the introduction of Christianity by a few centuries. Not that I’m saying the native Muslim population is a bunch of terrorists, but there have been religious clashes going back many years now. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/5 "2017-05-27T16:31:56Z")
The president was brought up Catholic but as an ecumenist also affirms Islam — such cautious synthesizing may come more easily since he was also raised as a lawyer. He’s not so much prejudiced as mentally different from normal people: ‘_Duterte is an avid reader of Robert Ludlum and Sidney Sheldon novels.[_’ ---
**Author:** ![Ramira](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ramira/32/344_2.png) [@Ramira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ramira)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/6 "2017-05-27T19:09:11Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That’s a big part of it, but I think what some people don’t know about the Philippines is that it has a significant Muslim minority, especially in Mindanao (in the south). Most Filipinos are Catholic, reflecting the centuries of Spanish rule, but Islam in that country predates the introduction of Christianity by a few centuries. > > Not that I’m saying the native Muslim population is a bunch of terrorists, but there have been religious clashes going back many years now. 300 years predating. The southern Sultanates were almost never under effective control of the Spanish. It was the Americans that made them effectively part of the Philippine colony after they defeated the Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/7 "2017-05-28T05:44:29Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > The president was brought up Catholic but as an ecumenist also affirms Islam — such cautious synthesizing may come more easily since he was also raised as a lawyer. Duterte isn’t muslim (although it’s not clear what you mean by “affirm” here.) His remarks have been misconstrued by people who view themselves as ‘more christian’ than Duterte is (probably not a difficult feat, as his main claim to fame is the official endorsement of mass extrajudicial murder.) He did say: > [@Philippine Star](#): > > Duterte, in particular, joked about the Catholic practice of venerating saints, people officially recognized by the Church as models of the faith. > > “I believe in one God Allah. Period,” he said during his last flag ceremony as Davao City mayor. Allah is the name of the God worshipped by Muslims. > > Duterte’s discomfort with Catholicism, it seems, stemmed from his unpleasant experiences when he was still a child. He recalled that when he was a child, his mother Soledad would punish him by asking him to kneel before an altar. > **[Duterte makes fun of Catholic Church’s practices](https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/06/27/1597277/duterte-makes-fun-catholic-churchs-practices)** > > President-elect Rodrigo Duterte on Monday made fun of the practices of the Roman Catholic Church, which has been critical of his stance on family planning and death penalty. However, he self-identifies as christian: > [@Philippine Daily Inquirer](#): > > “I’m a Christian, but I’m a realist so we have to do something with our overpopulation,” he said. “The religious sector, I’m sorry, your fundamental beliefs do not solve the problems of the country.” > > Duterte said the government’s population control program was “not moving because every President has deferred to the stand of the Catholic Church.” > > He slammed politicians for not challenging Catholic doctrine. “I will defy the opinion or the belief of the Church,” he vowed. > **[Duterte slams Church as hypocritical institution](https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/787033/duterte-slams-church-as-hypocritical-institution)** > > Incoming President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte has blasted the country’s dominant Roman Catholic Church as “the most hypocritical institution” and accused some of its bishops of corruption for allegedly asking favors from politicians, including him. And ‘Allah’ isn’t a word only used by muslims: > [@wikipedia](#): > > The word Allah has been used by Arabic people of different religions since pre-Islamic times.[8] More specifically, it has been used as a term for God by Muslims (both Arab and non-Arab) and Arab Christians. It is now mainly used by Muslims and Arab Christians to refer to God.[9] It is also often, albeit not exclusively, used in this way by Bábists, Bahá’ís, Indonesian and Maltese Christians, and Mizrahi Jews.[10][11][12] Similar usage by Christians and Sikhs in West Malaysia has recently led to political and legal controversies.[13][14][15][16] > **[Allah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allah)** > > Allah (/ˈælə, ˈɑːlə, əˈlɑː/; Arabic: .mw-parser-output .script-arabic{font-family:"Scheherazade New","SF Arabic",Amiri,"Noto Naskh Arabic","Droid Arabic Naskh","Noto Sans Arabic","Sakkal Majalla","Harmattan","Arabic Typesetting","Arabic Transparent","Times New Roman",Arial,Calibri,"Microsoft Sans Serif","Segoe UI",serif,sans-serif;font-weight:normal}ٱللَّٰه‎, romanized: Allāh, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-outpu The ... Rather, Duterte doesn’t appear to be any more faithful to a religion than to a wife (he has been open about his serial philandering when married,) much less be ‘ecumenical’ and have more than one: > [@GMA News Online](#): > > In an exclusive interview with GMA News anchor Jessica Soho on Tuesday, he also said that he believes in God, but not in religion. > > “For the record, I believe in God, but I do not believe in religions. Period. And the most hypocritical institutions in the Philippines, guess who?” > **[Duterte: I believe in God, but not in religion](https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/566934/duterte-i-believe-in-god-but-not-in-religion/story/)** > > Incoming president Rodrigo Duterte called out the hypocrisy of the Catholic Church, accusing its bishops of selectively following its supposed separation from the state. I don’t think there’s anything cautious or synthesized about it - he just doesn’t follow religions. ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/8 "2017-05-28T08:24:30Z")
Affirm = be part of _“If there is anybody who wishes that this bloody problem would end soon, it is I because I am both Moro and Christian,” Duterte said. “I feel the fear of the Christians and share the dreams of the Moro people who feel that they have been dispossessed of their land and identity,” the City Mayor said. Duterte admits publicly for the first time that his maternal grandmother had a Moro lineage. “There is a part of me which is Moro,” he said. Duterte’s ties with the Muslims of the South were made even stronger because his eldest son, Paolo who is now Vice Mayor of the City, embraced Islam when he married a Muslim Tausug girl. “I have grandchildren who are either Muslim or Christian. Would I want to see a situation in the future where even my own grandchildren would be dragged into this conflict?,” he asked._ **[FaceBook — The Mind of Rody Duterte](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=907508359262453&id=794029760610314)** However, he was devout enough to want to be a priest when young, but now thanks God he wasn’t or he would have ended up a homosexual. Islamists have just beheaded a police chief, feeling the old ways are the good ways, so he may start getting nasty; however since Duterte was _very_ vocal in wanting Hillary to become US president, Trump may be cool in support. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/9 "2017-05-28T09:01:17Z")
> [@Ramira](#): > > 300 years predating. > > The southern Sultanates were almost never under effective control of the Spanish. It was the Americans that made them effectively part of the Philippine colony after they defeated the Spanish. At the turn of the century - the 20th century, that is - Mindanao was predominantly Muslim except for a narrow strip of Christianized cities and settlements on the northern coast. The Americans acquired the Philippines from Spain at around this time - notwithstanding the fact that the Filipinos had already declared themselves independent and had backed up their declaration with force of arms. The Americans managed to convince the northern, Christian Filipinos that they were in charge, mostly by importing the same troops they had used to pacify the Native Americans. The Muslims in the south were having none of that, and treated the Americans the same way they treated Spanish. The Spanish had invented a term, _juramentado_, for a sword-wielding Moro who would attack police and soldiers, expecting to be eventually killed themselves. When the Americans encountered them, they found that their sidearms - largely the .38 Long Colt revolver - were inadequate for stopping _juramentado_ attacks. They would shoot them, several times, and they would keep coming. The Americans had to replace their pistols with more powerful .45 Colt revolvers. Legend is that the _juramentados_ spurred the development of the M1911 Colt .45 semi-automatic pistol, still in popular today, although by the time the M1911 had reached troops in 1913, the Moros had already been pacified. (So the M1911 was never used against _juramentados_.) After Muslim Mindanao had been pacified, the American colonial administration pursued a program of “Christianizing” or “civilizing” the island (as was the parlance of the day), by encouraging resettlement from the north. They also developed the infrastructure, building roads, bridges, and ports. [As an aside, prior to WWII Philippine President Manuel Quezon looked into the possibility of large scale resettlement in Mindanao of Jewish refugees fleeing Hitler’s Germany, perhaps as many as 10,000. He ran into opposition from the US State Department, who still had final say in granting visas. As it was, the Philippines was only able to accept about 1300 Jews from Europe between 1937 and 1941.] After the war and full independence, the Philippine government continued encouraging resettlement from the north. By this time, the island had been developed enough that spontaneous migration was also taking place. The result is that many areas that were majority Muslim are now majority Christian. This has led to inevitable conflict between the two groups, with Muslim separatist groups the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front arising in the 1960s and 1970s. The 1990s saw the rise of the Abu Sayyaf and now we have the Maute Group, both of which have pledged themselves to ISIS. ---
**Author:** ![andrewm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c57346/32.png) [@andrewm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andrewm)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/10 "2017-05-28T14:38:55Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Islamists have just beheaded a police chief, feeling the old ways are the good ways, so he may start getting nasty No, that guy is still alive. A widely-reported but false story. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/duterte-justified-martial-law-over-the-beheading-of-a-police-chief--who-is-still-alive/2017/05/26/b6f0a9f2-41d7-11e7-9851-b95c40075207\_story.html](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/duterte-justified-martial-law-over-the-beheading-of-a-police-chief--who-is-still-alive/2017/05/26/b6f0a9f2-41d7-11e7-9851-b95c40075207_story.html) > **[Philippines president justified martial law over the ‘beheading’ of a police...](https://www.denverpost.com/2017/05/26/philippines-martial-law-police-beheaded/)** > > BEIJING – When President Rodrigo Duterte explained his decision to declare martial law across a wide swathes of the southern Philippines, he described one of the most chilling scenes imaginab… ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/11 "2017-05-28T21:32:35Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > Affirm = be part of > _“If there is anybody who wishes that this bloody problem would end soon, it is I because I am both Moro and Christian,” Duterte said. > “I feel the fear of the Christians and share the dreams of the Moro people who feel that they have been dispossessed of their land and identity,” the City Mayor said. > Duterte admits publicly for the first time that his maternal grandmother had a Moro lineage. > “There is a part of me which is Moro,” he said. > Duterte’s ties with the Muslims of the South were made even stronger because his eldest son, Paolo who is now Vice Mayor of the City, embraced Islam when he married a Muslim Tausug girl. > “I have grandchildren who are either Muslim or Christian. Would I want to see a situation in the future where even my own grandchildren would be dragged into this conflict?,” he asked._ > **[FaceBook — The Mind of Rody Duterte](https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=907508359262453&id=794029760610314)** You’ve mistaken a claim of ethnicity for one of religion - Duterte’s grandmother was Moro, and not just Moro, but muslim Moro (Moro’s etymology originates from Moors - so they are frequently thought of as muslims.) But more importantly, Islam is not identified by heritage - one doesn’t become a muslim just because one’s grandmother was a muslim. > [@wikipedia](#): > > The Moro, also called the Bangsamoro or Bangsa Moro, are the Muslim population of the Philippines, forming the largest non-Catholic[3] group in the country and comprising about 5.1% (as of August 2007) of the total Philippine population.[1] There are around 13 indigenous communities, **of which the majority have converted** to the religion of Islam and are now Muslims or Moros; most are the followers of Islam of the Shafi’i madh’hab.[2] > **[Moro people](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moro_people)** > > The Moro people or Bangsamoro people are the 13 Muslim-majority ethnolinguistic Austronesian groups of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan, native to the region known as the Bangsamoro (lit. Moro nation or Moro country). As Muslim-majority ethnic groups, they form the largest non-Christian population in the Philippines, and comprise about 5% of the country's total population, or 5 million people. > Most Moros are followers of Sunni Islam of the Shafiʽi school of fiqh. The Moros were once independent u... Since Duterte’s grandmother was muslim, it’s not surprising he has muslim and christian family members - his son Paolo converted to Islam when he married. > [@aseantoday.com](#): > > There are indeed both Muslims and Christians among his children and his wider family. His eldest son Paulo, also in politics, converted to Islam when he married a Muslim Tausug woman. [https://www.aseantoday.com/2016/05/difference-between-duterte-and-trump/](https://www.aseantoday.com/2016/05/difference-between-duterte-and-trump/) Also, in what might be confusing to someone without context, Duterte has courted the muslim population of the southern islands as a base of political support: > [@rappler.com](#): > > Duterte reciprocated, declaring his devotion to the Muslim communities of Mindanao. > > RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Long live the Moro! Long live the Moro! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar! > > Maguindanao is the most vote-rich province in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. > > Duterte tells them he is the only candidate who has their interests at heart. > > RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Who of the 3 candidates can speak about the problem of the Moro, the problem of the BBL, the problem of poverty and hunger? None of them. I am running for president and I will fix Mindanao. Me, if I become president, if Allah gives his blessing, before I die since I am old, I will leave to you all a Mindanao that is governed in peace. > > The Davao City mayor is overwhelmingly Mindanao’s top choice for president, according to recent surveys. > **[Duterte in ARMM: I am the Moro people's president](https://www.rappler.com/philippines/elections/129082-duterte-armm-moro-people-president/)** > > The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao is dominated by local government officials belonging to the ruling Liberal Party In context, Duterte courts both muslim and christian votes, by using the terminology of his muslim voters and bashing the “elites” of the north, and by bashing the “elites” of the Catholic church, the priests. His own religious actions don’t seem to reflect an actual belief in either Catholicism or Islam, and he openly denies being a believer in religion due to his experience in his youth - > [@Philippine Star](#): > > Duterte also said that he believes there is a God and he believes in Allah, but he does not believe in religion, particularly the Catholic Church because it is sowing fear among its faithful about the existence of heaven and hell. > > “Do not believe it. That is what that religion is all about, they are instilling fear that you will go to hell if you are a sinner. But you will only know if there is indeed a hell if you die,” the President said. > **[President wants to set up ‘Iglesia ni Duterte’](https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/12/29/1657764/president-wants-set-iglesia-ni-duterte)** > > President Duterte yesterday told Filipinos not to believe Catholic priests and urged them to join the “Iglesia ni Duterte,” a religion he would establish where there is no prohibition and men are allowed to have five wives. If you didn’t know of his deliberate attempts to court muslim voters dissatisfied with the “elites” in northern/christian Filipino culture, and to court populist christian Filipinos dissatisfied with the “elites” of the Catholic Church, you might think Duterte was muslim instead of irreligious. ---
**Author:** ![simple\_homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@simple\_homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simple_homer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/12 "2017-05-29T07:57:12Z")
More rape “jokes” from Duterte. I used to live in the Philippines, and I have been following Philippines politics for years. Unfortunately I don’t think that Duterte is really joking. I think it is just part of the macho image he thinks he has, and that many Filipinos support. Encouraging Filipino soldiers to rape other Filipinos is disgusting. “Duterte jokes that his soldiers can rape women under martial law in the Philippines” > **[Duterte jokes that his soldiers can rape women under martial law in the...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/05/27/duterte-jokes-that-his-soldiers-can-rape-women-under-martial-law-in-the-philippines/?utm_term=.f6d8982e2288)** > > "You can arrest any person, search any house,” Duterte told his soldiers. And if they raped a woman, he apparently joked, he'd go to jail for them. ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/13 "2017-06-06T09:25:42Z")
Filipino here. The 1987 constitution states that a president can declare martial law over a certain area of the country in times of invasion or rebellion. Terrorism has not entered into many countries’ constitution then and even now is not a likely justification for declaring martial law. For martial law to be justified, this Maute/Abu Sayaf Group has to be elevated from a simple bandit group, with possible ISIS ties, to a certain status; something like a legal belligerent with rights under various international laws. And no one will want to give Maute/Abu that status. So, was martial law declaration justifiable? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2017, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/14 "2017-06-06T10:36:31Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > You’ve mistaken a claim of ethnicity for one of religion - Duterte’s grandmother was Moro, and not just Moro, but muslim Moro (Moro’s etymology originates from Moors - so they are frequently thought of as muslims.) From “Moors”, really? [Moro](http://dle.rae.es/?id=PqZDbAp): from Latin _Maurus_, “mauritanian”, and this from Greek _Μαῦρος_, (pr. _Maûros_) “dark”, alluding to the color of their skin. Originally, the Spanish word _moro_ referred to people from Northern Africa; eventually it came to get its other meanings, including “muslim” and “man who is too possessive of his women”. The “muslim” meaning is what in turn became the name of those people from Philippines who held the religion when the Spanish crown claimed the archipelago. ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/15 "2017-06-08T10:15:27Z")
The Philippine Daily Inquirer today published an article explaining the various contemporary Philippine Jihadist groups and their relationship to each other and to the older Islamist groups from the 1970s (i.e., the MNLF and MILF): > **[Jihadists rise in Mindanao](https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/903518/jihadists-rise-in-mindanao)** > > In the last 50 years, the Philippine government has been trying to forge peace with Moro insurgent groups. But for every step forward, it moves two steps back. In between these steps, a new generation is born, the world changes, and new armed groups... ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/16 "2017-06-08T14:53:55Z")
nvm ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/17 "2017-06-08T15:32:17Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > The Philippine Daily Inquirer today published an article explaining the various contemporary Philippine Jihadist groups and their relationship to each other and to the older Islamist groups from the 1970s (i.e., the MNLF and MILF): > > [http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/903518/jihadists-rise-in-mindanao](http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/903518/jihadists-rise-in-mindanao) Heh. MILF. Heh. Sorry, sometimes I’m a 13-year-old-boy. [, something I apparently share with the Daily Fail.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323799/Welcome-MILF-army-The-unfortunately-named-Muslim-rebel-group-patrolling-jungles-Philippines.html) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/18 "2017-06-08T16:03:27Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Heh. MILF. Heh. > > Sorry, sometimes I’m a 13-year-old-boy. [, something I apparently share with the Daily Fail.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2323799/Welcome-MILF-army-The-unfortunately-named-Muslim-rebel-group-patrolling-jungles-Philippines.html) They were the Imelda Marcos faction. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/19 "2017-06-08T16:54:01Z")
How safe is the Cagayan de Oro area? I might be going there in late July. ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330/20 "2017-06-08T22:55:37Z")
^ Big, predominantly Christian, with sizable commercial and tourism activity (everything Marawi City is not.) To answer your question, it’s like any seedy third-world city. Enjoy but take care. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-better-informed-pls-enlighten-re-duturte-martial-law-in-mindanao/787330.md?page=2)