MANILA, May 26 (Xinhua) -- President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to impose martial law over Mindanao in the southern Philippines is justified due to a "clear and present danger" the Islamic militants are posing in that region, the government's solicitor general said on Friday.
Duterte submitted on Thursday night to House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and Senate President Aquilino Pimentel his report on martial law. Both Congress leaders were in Davao City, Duterte's home city, to attend the special cabinet meeting convened to discuss the ongoing crisis in Mindanao.
At a news conference in Davao City, Philippine Solicitor General Jose Calida said Duterte "has ample factual basis" for declaring martial law.
Calida expressed confidence that Congress will support Duterte's decision.
"The festering rebellion of the Maute terrorist group which has pledged allegiance to the virulent ISIS, otherwise know as Daesh in Arabic, is a compelling reason why martial law was declared," he said.
On Tuesday, Duterte declared martial law across the whole of Mindanao hours after heavily-armed militants affiliated with Islamic State swooped into Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur province.
Extremist insurgents from Maute group have since engaged government forces in firefights causing residents to flee. The city, with a population of more than 201,000, has become a veritable ground zero of intermittent clashes between soldiers and extremist bandits since Tuesday.
Calida said the government's "security and intelligence units have monitored ISIS and Maute literature and publications containing orders to their adherence to attack the Philippine government and established a 'wilayat' or ISIS province in Mindanao."
"The dream of the Maute group is to transform Mindanao into an Islamic state," Calida said.
Duterte, who visited the evacuees in Iligan City, a few kilometers from Marawi City, said he was forced to place Mindanao under martial law because of the atrocities of the militants.
"We're going to fight. I will fight every day until this (crisis) is resolved," Duterte said in Iligan, adding that the country is facing a "formidable enemy".
Philippine authorities confirmed on Friday reports that foreign jihadists from some neighbouring countries are fighting alongside the Maute militants.
