Since President Rodrigo Duterte took office in June 2016, much of the world’s attention towards the Philippines has been on Duterte’s take-no-prisoners war on drugs, which has resulted in thousands of deaths. The campaign has overshadowed the country’s long-standing struggle with the Islamist-led independence movement on the southern island of Mindanao, where the Islamic State group wants to create a “province” of its “caliphate”. It was in Mindanao in May 2017 that Islamists pledging allegiance to IS besieged the city of Marawi, abducted a Catholic priest and several other Christians, set fire to buildings including a cathedral and Protestant-run college, beheaded a police chief, and erected the black flags of IS. Christians in the south fear that a proposed peace deal between the government and Mindanao’s Islamists will legitimise anti-Christian harassment. Already, the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches has reported that some recent converts from Islam have been abused by their families and communities.
Philippines: Catholic priest free but over 40 hostages still held in Marawi
Catholic Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob may have been freed, but the war in the southern city of Marawi is not over yet, as 40 hostages are still being held by militants in the city, while almost half a million Marawi residents are internally displaced. Father Suganob arrived in the […]
Filipino priest Teresito Suganob free after 4 months as hostage
Catholic Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob is finally free, having been held hostage by Islamic State-linked militants for almost four months in the war-torn city of Marawi. According to The New York Times, the priest was rescued late on Saturday (16 September) by the Philippines military, as it moved closer […]
Philippines rejects hostage deal with Islamist militants
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has rejected an offer by Islamic State-linked militants to exchange hostages for a safe passage out of the southern city of Marawi, which the militants have besieged since May. It is thought that Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob is being offered as part of the deal, […]
Three months on, Islamists still hold Christian hostages, as Marawi residents start to rebuild
More than three months after it first attacked the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines, the Maute terrorist group is on the run, while still apparently holding 46 hostages, including Catholic priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob and 13 children. Almost half a million Marawi residents are displaced as a result […]
Fate of kidnapped Philippines priest – 57 today – ‘uncertain’
The fate of the kidnapped Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob – 57 today – has “become uncertain”, as the battle for the southern city of Marawi continues, according to the Catholic news agency UCAN. In June, World Watch Monitor reported that Father Suganob – who was abducted by the Maute […]
Philippines reconsiders bill for autonomous Bangsamoro
A new law that will govern the creation of a new autonomous Muslim region in the southern Philippines was submitted as a bill to the government on Monday (July 17) for approval by Congress. President Rodrigo Duterte received the draft “Bangsamoro Basic Law” (BBL), crafted by a 21-member commission that […]
Filipino Bishops: ‘Marawi war is not a religious conflict’
The Catholic Bishops in the Philippines, at the end of their episcopal Conference in Manila on Monday (10 July), have called for an end to the crisis in the southern city of Marawi (Mindanao), which, they say, “is not a conflict of religion”. “We heard and read truly amazing stories […]
Philippines: Islamist separatists endorse fatwa denouncing extremist violence
The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group has backed a fatwa against violent extremism issued by a senior Islamic religious leader in the troubled southern region of Mindanao. Sheikh Abehuraira Abdulrahman Udasan, mufti of the influential Bangsamoro House of Opinion in Mindanao, issued the Islamic legal ruling “against the entry and […]
Kidnapped Philippines priest ‘alive’ but Marawi situation ‘dire’
The Catholic priest abducted by the Maute terrorist group last month – in the early stages of its ongoing assault on the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines – is believed to be still alive, after his release was reportedly offered in exchange for the parents of the Maute […]
Kidnapped Philippines priest pleads: ‘Please consider us!’
As the battle for the southern Philippines city of Marawi continues, a priest being held hostage by Islamist militants has appeared in a video, pleading for the President to “consider” hostages’ lives and stop bombing the city. A spokesman for the Philippines army dismissed the video, which was released yesterday […]