NEW YORK, 03 October – Ambassador Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr., Permanent Representative to the United Nations, reaffirmed the Philippines’ condemnation of terrorism wherever, by whomever, and against whomsoever committed, before the General Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal) under the item, “Measures to eliminate international terrorism”. He stressed that there can be no political accommodation with terrorism. He also updated the world body on developments in the failed terrorist siege of Marawi, where the government, consistent with International Humanitarian Law, demonstrated forbearance in the use of force to minimize civilian casualties even at the cost of more military and police casualties: “Harmony and peaceful co-existence between Christians and Muslims, in a climate understanding and trust, had long set Marawi apart as the center of religious tolerance in Mindanao. That is why the terrorists chose Marawi to stake out their first presence in my country … [T]hrough Marawi, we witness the collapse of Daesh in Iraq and Syria, only to see it claw back in our part of the world. In the Philippines, we have discovered the intimate and symbiotic relationship between terrorism, poverty and the illegal drug trade. Terrorists were able to gather a motley assortment of extremists, criminals, mercenaries, and foreign fighters to take control of Marawi and reestablish in our part of the world their shattered caliphate in the Middle East … But the Armed Forces of the Philippines are regaining full control of Marawi, which must now be rebuilt not least upon the unshakeable foundation of its inhabitants’ goodness … We cannot live with terrorism because it will not let us live.”