Davao on alert amid report on presence of terrorists

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 28): Davao on alert amid report on presence of terrorists

Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio assured Dabawenyos the city police and security forces are always on their toes amid reports that 40 foreign terrorists managed to infiltrate the country via the maritime route.

The city mayor said the Task Force Davao was doing its best and pushing its men and women to be on guard and secure the city.

She said there were even reports that terrorists were slowly recruiting and radicalizing people especially the youth after the terrorist groups were annihilated during the Marawi campaign.

True or not, the mayor said the government should always be prepared. She stressed some information may be taken for granted by people but would eventually turn out to be true.

“I assure Dabawenyos we are doing everything. We always emphasized the importance of counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency activities," she said in an interview Wednesday.

The mayor called on the people to report everything that they know to the city government or through hotlines of the Task Force Davao and the Davao City Police Office (DCPO).

In a report, there were foreign terrorists who allegedly managed to sneak into the country, although this has yet to be confirmed by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippines National Police (PNP).

The AFP has assured all units in the Western Mindanao Command are closely monitoring the coastal waters in the area. It is also counting assistance from neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia which the Philippines has established agreements on bilateral joint patrols.

Meanwhile, PNP Chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said there was an ongoing validation on the reported presence of 40 foreign terrorists and the recruitment.

“We also received the same information. Presumably, the 40 are coming from outside of the country,” he told reporters in an interview on the sidelines of the Southern Storm simulation exercise at Abreeza Mall, this city on Wednesday.

Dela Rosa said it would be good if these people were only here to retire because they were tired of fighting in Syria and Iraq. But it would be different if they were here to create trouble, he added.

Dela Rosa vowed that the government forces would fight to get rid of terrorism.

Dela Rosa was in the city for the launching of Southern Storm, an interagency security and disaster simulation exercise project to test police, the security forces, the local government leaders, including the barangays on their capability and readiness to respond to a crisis like terrorism, law enforcement, insurgency and disaster.

Davao City was chosen as a pilot area for the emergency drills because terrorists like the Maute and those identified with ISIS usually would target key cities in Mindanao.

"We know they want to retaliate because of their setback in the Marawi incident so they are now recruiting new members although our assessment is that they are not capable of attacking several cities," Dela Rosa said.

Dela Rosa stressed the city needs to prepare.

Dela Rosa said the DCPO and the other units in the city are prepared and equipped to respond to any incident.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1026913