MANILA - Malacañang on Monday allayed fears about potential security threats that could mar Manila's hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in light of the Paris terror attacks.

Undersecretary Manny Bautista, executive director of the Cabinet Cluster on Security, Peace and Justice, said authorities have not identified any credible threat from the Islamic State which claimed responsibility for Friday's carnage.

"We have not seen any, really, concrete presence of ISIS in the Philippines...that we continue to monitor and we remain vigilant and rest assured your security forces are on top of the situation," he said in an interview on ANC.

Still, Bautista said the government has increased resources and manpower devoted to securing APEC venues and other public places.


 
Philippine Marines inspect the anti-aircraft gun emplacement mounted near the venues of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Manila. Reuters
 
"We also increased the alert level, like the police, there are not going to be any shifts anymore. Everybody will be on duty. That goes for the Armed Forces as well. Everybody will be on hand to respond to any eventuality," he said.

President Aquino earlier convened the Security Cluster with instructions to increase vigilance and level-up security preparations to deter possible threats.

But Bautista noted that security is not the government's job alone but a national responsibility.

"There is no hundred percent assurance, really, that even if you have very good intelligence apparatus, security apparatus, that nothing can happen. We have seen in Paris, we have seen in New York and in other places. That is why we need the cooperation of everybody," he said.

"The key here is vigilance, not just of security forces but all of us," Bautista added.
 
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/v1/11/16/15/govt-no-concrete-isis-presence-in-ph