‘Stay away from the IS virus’

I commend Marawi City Mayor Majul Usman Gandamra for his courage and bravery in publicly denouncing the Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups, and asking his constituents not to allow themselves from being recruited by jihadists and other Muslim radical groups.

With his city ravaged by the five-month standoff between Islamic State-inspired groups and the military, he urged his fellow Maranao and their relatives to never again become victims or be recruited by these terrorist groups.

He said his constituents should now learn their lesson, to be proactive in the fight against terrorism by cooperating with the government, and put an end to the destructive IS “virus” that infected some of them.

Mayor Gandamra’s strong stance against extremism should be commended, and his acts emulated and replicated by other local chief executives in Muslim-dominated localities in Mindanao and other parts of the country.

The destruction of homes, the murder and killing of fellow Filipinos, civilians and soldiers, in Marawi City is what would happen in other towns and cities in Mindanao if the concerned local chief executives and residents won’t lift their hands to counter these violent terrorists.

RHIAN EVANGELISTA, evangelistarhian.18@gmail.com