The Philippine military provided one battalion to go against each subgroup. On September 9, following the meeting between President Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo, an agreement was reached to pursue the Abu Sayyaf. The Philippine President said in a statement:
In response to the meeting between President Duterte and Indonesian President Joko Widodo on September 9th, the Philippine military deployed one battalion against each of the subgroups.  The Philippine president declared that they would pursue the Abu Sayyaf group.