Philippine troops clashed briefly with pro-ISIS militants in the volatile south on Saturday, the army said, in their first engagement since the government retook Marawi city in the country’s biggest battle since World War Two. The threat of violent extremism remains in the predominantly Catholic Philippines even after the end of a five-month siege by terrorists in a southern city, said Catholic and Muslim officials. The Marawi conflict has reinforced stereotypes among the mostly Catholic segment of the population that Muslims are troublemakers and violent, writes Raun Dancel for Straits Times. He adds that for Muslims, it dredged long-held grudges over how they have been reduced from being “masters” of Mindanao – their ancestral land – to a marginalized minority.