Maute recruitment for Marawi siege reached Manila —Marawi mayor

The Maute group had tried to recruit Maranao youth from as far as Manila to join the siege of Marawi City, according to Marawi Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra in an interview on News To Go on Wednesday.

"Unfortunately, I found out that during the siege, maraming kabataan, even young professionals, were enticed to participate, in this militant group and in fact they were invited, in some colleges and universities in Manila," Gandamra said.

Gandamra said the actions of the extremist group created a rift and sowed distrust among those affected by the battle, making youth a vulnerable target for their propaganda even when they were far away from the battle.

"Maaari po siguro because sa nakikita nila sa television and of course, naririnig nila, what happened to Marawi City, ay nagkakaroon ng ganung influences," he said.

The local government enlisted leaders to provide religious counseling to youth and other evacuees well before the liberation of Marawi to address the trust issues generated by the terrorist attacks.

Debriefings, psychosocial, cultural, and religious programs in evacuation centers were instrumental in building trust between the youth, the Maranao, and the government again, Gandamra said.

"Ang ating mga traditional leaders at religious leaders ay pinapapunta natin sa evacuation centers to teach our people the true essence of Islam," he said.

"Medyo nagbabago na ho ang paningin ng ating mga kabataan, but of course, that should be continuous effort, not only on the part of the government but on the part of the society," the official added.

Gandamra encouraged parents to keep an eye on their children, whether they are still minors or young professionals, to keep them from falling into extremism.

"Yung mismong pamilya dapat po bantayan natin ang ating mga anak," he said. "Yun po ang ating bantayan, hindi lang po ang gobyerno ang may responsibility dito, but of course the society as a whole."

The mayor said Filipinos as a whole must aid the local and national government in supporting the social healing of the people of Marawi to quash the distrust the Maute group created with their attack.

"Hindi lang dapat i-address natin yung physical rehabilitation in terms of infra, mga damaged property, but as well as yung social healing. As a result of this war, nag-create siya ng some kind of division among people, mistrust and distrust, even between people and government," Gandamra explained. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News