The military is no longer monitoring the presence of foreign terrorists in the central and the western part of Mindanao in the past few weeks despite aggressive surveillance and intelligence-gathering.
(6th Infantry Division – Kampilan Facebook / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
But Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command, said they are not lowering their guard since the main objective is to deny foreign and local terror groups the opportunity to strike in any part of the country.
“We have been looking for them but there are no more traces of their presence. But still we do not lower our guards, we maintain our security posture,” said Sobejana.
Based on latest data, there were eight foreigners who are affiliated with international terror groups. They are either training local terrorists or seeking refuge in the jungles of Mindanao in exchange for trainings of local terror groups.
Sobejana said their focus now is to deny the foreign terrorists and their local allies the opportunity to recruit in Mindanao.
Last year, security officials were alarmed over the first confirmed report of suicide bombing involving Filipino terrorists in Sulu.
The suicide bombing perpetrated by an alleged Filipino terrorist came a few months before an Indonesian couple allegedly led the Jolo Cathedral bombing that left more than 20 churchgoers dead and more than 100 others injured.
“What is imporrant to us is that they would be denied the chance to recruit and be denied the opportunity to launch any attack. We remain in the highest form of alert but of course we need the support of the civilians because security is a shared responsibility,” said Sobejana.