MANILA, July 6 (Xinhua) -- Philippine military and police authorities will recommend to President Rodrigo Duterte next week whether to extend the martial law in the entire Mindanao in the southern Philippines, military officials said on Thursday.
Duterte declared martial law on May 23 for 60 days on the island of Mindanao and nearby island provinces after extremists linked to the so-called Islamic State (IS) laid siege to Marawi City. The 60-day deadline will end on July 23.
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said military ground commanders have already started conducting assessment of the security situation in the region.
"The assessment that we are conducting is whether martial law should be continued or not," Padilla said, adding the assessment is important to determine whether the martial law has helped restore order in the entire Mindanao.
"We are getting inputs from the ground. These inputs will be (carefully studied) by authorities on the ground," Padilla said.
However, he stressed that the assessment will depend on the situation on the ground.
The fighting is still going on and "the situation is still fluid," Padilla said.
Padilla expressed hope that the assessment report and the recommendation will be finished "by the end of next week before the deadline ends."
In a news conference in Marawi City, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said he and Gen. Eduardo Ano, the AFP chief of staff, will make the recommendation "soon" to Duterte.
Under the Philippine law, Ano is the implementor of the martial law while Lorenzana is the designated martial law administrator.
"We do not know if it is to lift or extend. We are consulting with those around us, not only in Marawi but all over Mindanao," Lorenzana said.
He added "it will be a well-informed recommendation to (Duterte)."
Meantime, Philippine National Police Gen. Ronald Dela Rosa said he is in favor of extending martial law.
"If we want to hasten the arrest (of people involved in the rebellion), then we should extend martial law. Frankly speaking, we need (martial law)," Dela Rosa said. "Personally. I'm in favor so we can go after those who should be arrested."
Martial law allows the military and the police to arrest suspects even without warrants.
Fighting to completely retake the besieged Marawi city continues to this day in which nearly 480 people have been killed, including 351 terrorists, 39 civilians and 85 soldiers and policemen.
Lorenzana admitted that the government "underestimated the capability" of the Maute terrorists. "We initially said this was going to last for only three days," he said.
Initially, Lorenzana said the military estimated that the militants who launched the attack were only 200 to 250 terrorists. But it turned out that there were 400 to 500.
In their assessment and interviews with local villagers, Lorenzana said that there might have been 700 Maute militants involved in the attack.
"That's how large the enemy is. We did not know at the start, that's why we made estimates when this will be finished. They are still there, it's more than one month already, nearly two months already," Lorenzana said.
Moreover, Lorenzana said the militants were able to bring in and amass high-powered firearms, ammunition, explosives and food. "That's why they are still there fighting it out up to now, inflicting casualties on our soldiers," Lorenzana said.
