Prof. Dr. Raymund Liongson moderates the discussion on the Marawi siege. The panel members are Dr. Patricio Abinales, Director, University of Hawaii Center for Philippine Studies, Dr. Federico Magdalena, Dr. Serafin Colmenares, Jr., Dr. Sulpecia L. Ponce, and Dr. Marilou F. Siton Nanaman, Mindanao State University.

The Philippine Consulate General on April 19 co-sponsored with the University of Hawaii- Center for Philippine Studies, Congress of Visayan Organization, and Knights of Rizal, a mini-conference on the siege of Marawi City by armed local terrorist groups, Abu Sayaff and the Maute group aligned with ISIS.

The discussion started with a background on Marawi City by Dr. Serafin Colmenares of the University of Hawaii, followed by a presentation of Dr. Sulpecia L. Ponce, Professor at the Department of Sociology, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT) and Dr. Marilou F. Siton Nanaman, Chair, Department of Political Science, MSU-IIT.

The mini-conference encouraged comments on the question of “What does it take to contain the growing extremism among Muslim youth and put Marawi back on its feet?” The discussions were a frank exchange of views on Marawi, and concluded with the observation that the task to rebuild Marawi will require great effort and resources, and would need the help of many sectors and the international community. END