BOOK REVIEW: The Battle of Marawi

By Criselda Yabes. Pawakan Press, soft cover, with glossary and maps. 266 pages, PHP500

On May 23, 2017, a Philippine army armored unit led by a company commander known only as “Azalea” was handed the task of moving into a crowded area of the city of Marawi on the island of Mindanao in a bid to capture Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the Islamic State-affiliated Abu Sayyaf, a militant Islamic guerilla group that had devolved mostly into a g…