Lawrence Person's BattleSwarm Blog

There’s been some confusion over the phrase “Did you hear what happened in the Philippines?”, as the answer to that question varies depending on which incident you’re talking about. One is jihad-related, the other not.

The ongoing fighting in Marawi City on Mindanao is definately jihad, being carried out by the Islamic State-affiliated Maute. And just as in the Middle East, the Islamic State is executing chritsians and burning Christian churches

However, the attack on the Resorts World Manila casino does not appear to be jihad-related:

The gunman who went on a deadly rampage at a metro Manila gaming complex was a Filipino gambling addict who had been recently barred from the country’s casinos, Philippine police said.

On Sunday, police identified Jessie Carlos as the assailant in an early Friday gun-and-arson attack at Resorts World Manila that left at least 36 casino guests and employees dead of suffocation from smoke.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday the tragedy didn’t resemble a terrorist attack by Islamic State, which has claimed the gunman was one of its fighters. Militants allied with Islamic State have been fighting Philippine troops in the country’s south for nearly two weeks, leaving more than 100 people dead. Also Saturday, dramatic security video footage of the attack was released to the public.

Manila Police Chief Oscar Albayalde, who spoke to the media Sunday alongside Mr. Carlos’s family at a hotel next to the casino, said the attacker had a gambling addiction and was deep in debt.

Police said the government-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation banned Mr. Carlos from casinos in April at the request of Mr. Carlos’s family. Mr. Carlos, who was in his early 40s, was a father of three who lived with his wife in Manila, police said.

“This could have probably triggered him,” Mr. Albayalde said, describing Mr. Carlos as a high roller who typically played with a minimum bet of 40,000 Philippine pesos ($808). Mr. Albayalde said Mr. Carlos had been addicted to gambling for several years and had sold property to try to settle his debts.

So two apparently unrelated incidents.

Tags: Jessie Carlos, Manila, Marawi City, Maute, Military, Mindanao, Philippines

This entry was posted on Monday, June 5th, 2017 at 8:00 AM and is filed under Crime, Jihad, Military. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.