MANILA — President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said due process will be given to members of the Maute group who will lay down their arms.

"Kung mag-surrender sila OK lang. We will try them, give them due process, provide them with a lawyer and there will be no oppression, harassment or anything," Duterte said in a press briefing at the Camp Evangelista Station Hospital in Cagayan de Oro City.

"No violence will be inflicted upon them if they surrender. Iyan ang guarantee ko sa inyo. Kapag mag surrender sila walang bugbugin, gutumin, nothing of the sort. I will not also allow it. That is not the way how I treat people, even if they’re criminals."

Some 800 people have been killed while tens of thousands have been displaced by the fighting, which also prompted the declaration of martial law in Mindanao.