Over the weekend, during remarks at the National Defense College of the Philippines, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana dwelled a little on the increased capability requirements that the
Philippine military is looking for, particularly in the intelligence realm, as it confronts Islamic State-linked militants in Marawi. Lorenzana’s comments are yet another indication of the challenges that the nation continues to face as it deals with a rising terror threat.The Philippine military has struggled during the Marawi crisis, and that has not been surprising to those familiar with both the general challenges it faces as well as the specifics of the current situation. The AFP remains one of the region’s weakest militaries despite some improvements, and Marawi has been an uphill battle for it because of various factors including the fact that it is a densely populated city with dense, forested terrain outside of it, and the reality that the allegiances between various insurgent groups and foreign fighters can be much looser than the headlines often suggest.