By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The Police Regional Office-18 (PRO-18) will begin checking and identifying individuals evacuating Marawi City, in order to avoid the conflict between the Maute group and the government forces.
PRO-18 spokesperson, Police Senior Inspector Armilyn Vargas, said she recently received information from Dumaguete City, in which five families reportedly arrived and are seeking to temporarily reside in the city.
Vargas assured every precaution is being taken on evacuees entering the Negros Island Region (NIR) and they will start conducting facial recognition on all individuals entering.
Earlier, reports claimed Maute fighters trying to flee have started mixing with evacuees, resulting in some cities in Mindanao facially recognizing individuals at all entry points and detaining those who fail to produce a form of identification.
The evacuees that reportedly arrived in Dumaguete City are currently staying with their relatives who are already living in the city.
In response, Mayor Felipe Remollo ordered the city’s police to conduct background checks on the said individuals./WDJ