On the contrary, the military has boasted of needing just more time to address the Maute problem in the Lanao provinces, as it made victorious claims of having killed dozens of Mautes in the last year or so. The surgical strike on May 23 was in fact targeted against the ISIS-inspired Isnilon Hapilon, who apparently has moved his base from Basilan on the western side to northern Mindanao, to link up with the Mautes.