Caraga police, military strengthen checkpoints

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 22): Caraga police, military strengthen checkpoints

Police and military have stepped up security in Caraga Region’s border towns to prevent the possible entry of suspected Maute group members.

Authorities said the heightened security along entry and exit points are being implemented following reports of apprehension of several members of the terrorist group in other parts of Mindanao.

In Carmen town, Agusan del Norte, which borders Caraga and Region 10, police and military are strengthening patrol and routine checks on motorists to prevent the possible entry of wanted terrorist personalities, said Police Senior Inspector Merben S. Cabonera, the town’s police chief.

Law enforcement agencies expected Maute members to flee to other regions of Mindanao and even as far as the Visayas because of the pressure exerted by government security forces in Marawi City, Insp. Cabonera said.

He said government security forces aim to pin, constrain and pursue fleeing Maute members to certain manageable areas.

On the eastern part, Sibagat town, a border municipality between Butuan City and Agusan del Norte, police and military checkpoints are implementing similar measures, said Police Insp. Geronimo T. Carvominal, the town’s deputy chief of police.

Carvominal said the local police are being assisted by the Army’s 8th Special Forces Company led by Captain Bryan Jasper R. Bayrante.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/996833