Tag: Mindanao

Three months on, Islamists still hold Christian hostages, as Marawi residents start to rebuild

August 29, 2017 Philippines Islamic State, Manila, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, Teresito Suganob

The siege of the city of Marawi in Mindanao by Islamists one year ago, displaced many people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

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 . . . Read More

Fate of kidnapped Philippines priest – 57 today – ‘uncertain’

August 1, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines, South Cotabato, Teresito Suganob

Catholic Priest Suganob is spending his 57th birthday in captivity, held by the Maute terrorist group in Marawi, Philippines. (Photo: still taken from a 'propaganda' video released by the kidnappers)

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 . . . Read More

Philippines: Islamist separatists endorse fatwa denouncing extremist violence

July 6, 2017 Philippines Bangsamoro, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Manila, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Quran

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 . . . Read More

Kidnapped Philippines priest pleads: ‘Please consider us!’

May 31, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Teresito Suganob, Zamboanga

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 . . . Read More

Islamists besieging Marawi, southern Philippines, kill 9 Christians at checkpoint

May 25, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Rodrigo Duterte

UPDATE (25 May): Nine Christian civilians were reportedly shot dead at a militant-run checkpoint in the besieged city of Marawi in the southern Philippines on Tuesday (23 May). Filipino news site GMA News Online – one of the biggest news and public affairs networks in the country – reported that . . . Read More

Islamic extremism causing fresh concerns in the Philippines

February 27, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic State, Manila, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Rodrigo Duterte, Seventh-day Adventists, Southeast Asia

Christians in the Philippines are concerned at a rise in Islamic extremism in the country. A local church leader, who wished to remain anonymous, told World Watch Monitor about a recent meeting of around 3,000 Islamists on one island – the name of which he wouldn’t say, for fear of . . . Read More

Islamic extremism on rise in Philippines

April 18, 2016 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Indonesia, Islamic State, Malaysia, Mindanao, Philippines, Southeast Asia

Islamic extremism is growing in the southern Philippines, with alarming implications for the rest of Asia, reports . For more than four decades, Islamist groups have been engaged in an insurgency for an independent province in the Mindanao island group of southern Philippines. Several have now , while one of . . . Read More

Philippines: former missionary freed

April 11, 2016 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Mindanao, Philippines, Zamboanga

Italian businessman and ex-missionary, Rolando Del Torchio, kidnapped in the Philippines last October, was released on Friday 8 April, . Police picked up the 57-year-old in the southern Philippine island of Jolo. After six months of captivity, he appeared much thinner and was immediately taken to hospital for a check-up. . . . Read More

IS allegiance reported in Philippines

January 11, 2016 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro, Islamic State, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines, Zamboanga

A video has emerged showing the leader of Abu Sayyaf (a militant Islamist group based around the islands of and in south-western Philippines) swearing allegiance to the leader of Islamic State, reports Rappler, a digital news website based in the Philippines. The Abu Sayyaf leader is shown marching with other extremist . . . Read More

MNLF release pastor in Zamboanga

September 16, 2013 Philippines Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines, Zamboanga

The pastor taken hostage in Zamboanga last week is among seven released by Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels, although others remain captive. Fourteen more have escaped, and nine have been rescued. After eight days of fighting, the Philippines Air Force is firing rockets on MNLF fighters who have been . . . Read More

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