Dozens of Christian families survived 11 days of being trapped in Marawi City, Southern Philippines thanks to the protection provided by Muslims. Such an act of compassion is condemnable for the Islamic State (ISIS)-linked Maute group, but local Muslims went against this directive and risked their own lives.
Politician and traditional clan leader Norodin Alonto Lucman is the most prominent local Muslim who accepted into his fold the greatest number of Christians. He reportedly took 71 civilians who sought refuge in his home to avoid being caught in the crossfire between soldiers and militants.
The Philippines is predominantly Catholic except in Marawi, which holds the lone distinction as an Islamic city where 90 percent of around 200,000 people, who make up its population, are Muslims. Those who took shelter in Lucman's house include teachers of a Protestant school that was burned down on the first day of the Islamists' rampage.
The insurgents set up a command post 100 meters from Lucman's house which was why the jihadis frequented his home, telling him to surrender Christians in hiding. But he told them they were all Muslims. One woman said the terrorists offered her money and food in exchange for her 11-year-old son to make a fighter out of him. She refused.
Last Saturday, Lucman was advised by his military contacts, through text messages, of a bombing campaign which prompted them to emerge from their hiding. Holding an improvised white flag, the group trooped outside the city. Other trapped civilians joined them until their number rose to 144.
The marchers passed by several rebel snipers and checkpoints. Every time they were asked if there were Christians among them, they shouted "Allahu akbar (God is great)!" Miraculously, they made out of the war zone and into the army territory where they will be interrogated to ensure no ISIS member was mixed in their ranks.
