KIDAPAWAN CITY – Police and military visibility in areas that are likely targets of terrorism have been intensified after police filed charges against Islamic militant linked to the bombings in Central Mindanao.
Chief Supt. Graciano Mijares, director of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-ARMM), said alert level has been raised by police offices in Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur and the provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi in the Zamboanga Peninsula.
Mijares said the raised alert level is being coordinated with community leaders as a preemptive measure against possible retaliatory strikes by extremist elements.
“All avenues are being explored as intelligence gathering are also maximized along with our partners in the military,” Mijares said in a statement Thursday.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 12 covering the provinces of North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and the cities of Cotabato, Kidapawan, Tacurong, Koronadal, and General Santos also elevated to “alert level 4” status.
Chief Supt. Eliseo Tam Rasco, PRO-12 director, said “alert level 4” includes the implementation of continuing round-the-clock police checkpoints and the “No I.D. (identification document), No Entry” policy just like in the cities of Cotabato and General Santos.
On Cotabato, persons without IDs are subjected to questioning by onsite investigators and are eventually not allowed to pass through the checkpoints when something irregular is observed.
Curfew hours, currently observed in the cities of Cotabato and General Santos, are also being encouraged in other parts of the region.
Only recently, police have filed multiple murder and multiple frustrated murder charges against 38 members of the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) for their involvement in the August 28 and September 2 bombings in Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat.
At least four bombing incidents against non-combatants have been recorded in Central Mindanao since Aug. 28 until Sept. 16 when improvised explosive devices were set off in General Santos City, Isulan, Sultan Kudarat; and Midsayap, North Cotabato.
Among those charged in the Isulan twin blasts were Esmael Abdulmalik, also known as Abu Toraife, and bomb-maker Salahuddin Hassan.
Toraife reportedly heads one of the three factions of the BIFF, which pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and has publicly displayed the IS flag in some areas in Maguindanao where they mainly operate. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
