Marawi Siege: Stories from the Front Lines by Carmela S. Fonbuena

Author:Carmela S. Fonbuena [Fonbuena, Carmela S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Journalism for Nation Building Foundation
Published: 2021-10-18T16:00:00+00:00

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In 2015, “Jerome” overheard Cayamora and Farhana Maute talking to his parents about him. The Maute couple offered to make him study the Qur’an.7 “It was my family’s dream for me to study the Qur’an,” said the boy, who was in his early teens.8

It was common practice in Muslim communities in Mindanao to organize Arabic and Islamic studies, just like Christians from the rest of the country organized Bible lessons. It was a privilege a poor family like Jerome’s would not pass up, especially if the offer came from such a respected clan. His parents may have been promised monetary assistance, too.

The boy relocated to faraway Butig, where he diligently learned the Qur’an. He was quite happy there. He lived in a big house. They played on the farm and rode horses when they were on a break from studying. He was particularly fond of riding the horses, he said.

The Maute family treated him well, and he looked up to Omar and Abdullah. “I was happy in Butig. I had a good life there,” he said.

They were a month into their lessons when they gave him a rifle and taught him how to kill. They told him it was his duty to kill Christians and soldiers. “They said all the Christians in the world should be killed. They taught me how to kill. If I didn’t kill, I would die. I’d be killed first,” he said.

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