SEVERAL lawmakers on Wednesday scored the government forces over their alleged "failure" to detect the entry of terrorist group in Marawi City, a day after a chaos broke out that triggered President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao.
Lawmakers blamed the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) as to why the Isis-inspired Maute Group was able to infiltrate the city of Marawi.
"This is an intelligence failure...Nasan ang intelligence fund natin? Bakit hindi niyo nakita ito? Napakaliit ng grupo ng Maute. Dapat yung movement nila, track na track na ninyo," Quezon City Representative Danilo Suarez said during a press conference.
Top security officials, among them chiefs of PNP and AFP and secretaries of Defense, were with Duterte in Moscow, Russia when the crisis broke out in Marawi City.
"Considering all of the heads... are in Russia, there is a failure of intelligence, kung hindi nila alam ano mangyayari sa Mindanao," Ako Bicol Representative Alfredo Garbin Jr. said.
Duterte abbreviated his Russia trip to address the Marawi crisis. He arrived in the Philippines on Wednesday afternoon.
The minority bloc said they are mulling to file a resolution to probe into the reason why the government forces did not foresee the attacks. (SunStar Philippines)