MANILA, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday that the option is now with the military to make a last-ditch effort to retake the remaining Islamist militants' holdouts in the southern Philippine Marawi City.
Duterte said in a speech that he cannot allow the 100-day fighting to continue to drag on.
"I have my limits," Duterte said, adding that the situation is already out of his hands.
"Up to this time, there is a stalemate," Duterte said.
He said he has told the military "that the option is already yours because we cannot have a stalemate for over one year."
Duterte admitted that he caused the conflict dragged on because he opposed the plan to bomb the grand mosque used by the militants to hide the hostages they are holding.
He said the initial military's plan was to bomb the mosque "to capture or kill the jihadist leaders and in the process sacrifice the hostages who are all Filipinos."
But Duterte said he was initially against the idea, saying that attacking the mosque "will just create more animosity and outright hostility against the government. It will generate more hatred instead of healing."
Duterte said he has also sent "somebody" to try to appeal to the militants to free the hostages and not to harm them.
Philippine forces mop up the last pockets of resistance from Islamist extremists in the final push to recapture the southern Philippine city of Marawi.
The government hopes to make an official declaration of victory in a few weeks.
