While Islamic State is on the verge of losing its last remaining stronghold in Syria, the terror group is on the rise in the Philippines. ISIS began actively recruiting members in the Philippines in 2016. After initial successes on the Mindanao island in the south, the national army defeated the group in 2017. But while president Duterte has declared victory over Islamic state, the group is experiencing a resurgence, recruiting new members and securing new funding, a trend that is denied by the government.
Rommel Banlaoi of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research firmly believes that “ISIS is the most complicated, evolving problem for the Philippines today, and we should not pretend that it doesn’t exist because we don’t want it to exist.”
Read more: How ISIS Is Rising in the Philippines as It Dwindles in the Middle East