Zambo City under full alert PPA steps up port security measures

From the Zamboanga Today (Aug 23): Zambo City under full alert PPA steps up port security measures

Authorities have stepped up security measures at the vital installations in Zamboanga City including the major ports in the wake of incidents occurred here and its neighboring island provinces and rumors that armed group is going to launch a second attack in the city.

Engr. Liberto Dela Rosa, the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) manager of Zamboanga, security has been stepped up inside the city’s major port effective last Wednesday after several incidents which happened in the city and in Mindanao area.

“The security was intensified in the port after several rumor text messages spread, arrest of suspected Abu Sayaff members, and bombing in other parts of Mindanao,” Dela Rosa told reporters in an interview.

Port authorities conduct strict checking on passengers and their baggage. They also advise passengers to go to the port early before their scheduled trip so proper inspection could be conducted to avoid missing their trip.

Also part  of their security measures, Dela Rosa directed local detection teams to strictly use K9 or bomb sniffing dogs and to put in place x-ray machine and CCTV cameras at the port, where many people converge and ships are docked.

More or less 1,500 passengers bound either for Sandakan, Manila, Jolo, Lamitan, Isabela and Tawi-Tawi are using the major port everyday.

Dela Rosa explained they’re doing this strict security measure to assure the public that the main port is safe from possible entry of bombs, explosives and other weapons as well as contabands that could threaten the city’s security.

Zamboanga City Police Directo Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro had earlier placed the city on full alert after an abduction incident last August 18 involving a grocery owner in Zamboanga’s west coast.

At least eight fully armed men broke into a grocery store in Barangay Labuan and abducted a businesswoman identified as Michelle Panel, 36, and her husband Noel.

Few weeks more before the first anniversary of the September Zamboanga siege in which dozens of people died and over 120,000 were left homeless, fear is again returning to the streets as residents worried that armed groups are going to launch a second attack.

Reports via text message that armed men believed to be loyal followers or sympathizers of Nur Misuari are thought to be congregating in villages around the city.

Misuari’s faction, composed of breakaway members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), is opposed to Bangsamoro peace agreement signed March 27 between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Mayor Isabelle “Beng” Climaco Salazar had earlier appealed local residents to remain calm amid reports of security threats in schools and other places. She also sought to calm fears by underlining that despite “challenges” the situation in Zamboanga City “remains normal.”

On September 2013, the MNLF - under the leadership of Misuari - laid siege to Zamboanga to protest the peace deal between the government and the MILF.

Almost one year since the September siege, Misuari and his close followers remain at large and their rebellion cases filed against them by Zamboangueños have never been heard as of this report.

Still thousands of families mostly Badjaos and other indigenous peoples, who were placed inside “grandstand” and Cawa-Cawa boulevard after the clashes between security forces and Misuari’s faction, struggle for life under harsh conditions.

http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/18360-zambo-city-under-full-alert-ppa-steps-up-port-security-measures.html