MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philipines (AFP) said it has not monitored any security threat to President Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23.
This was the assurance given by AFP public affairs office chief, Col. Noel Detoyato, in a statement Saturday.
“As of this report, the AFP has not monitored any threat from local terrorist groups however, its forces will continue to be on proactive stance against all threats of violence and will exert every effort to preserve the peace, particularly in NCR (National Capital Region) the seat of government is,” he added.
Detoyato called on the public to report to authorities any suspicious-looking individuals and activities in their respective areas.
“The fight against terrorism and preservation of peace is a shared responsibility of everyone,” he said.
The AFP has raised its alert level to “red” in the General Headquarters area in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City and AFP Wide Service Support Units since 8 a.m. Friday to ensure that the said units are capable of immediate readiness to respond against any threats that may arise during the SONA.
Meanwhile, Detoyato said Joint Task Force-National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) will take the lead in supporting the Philippine National Police’s security operations for Monday’s event.
JTF-NCR will deploy three infantry companies, two infantry platoons, seven civil disturbance management companies, three search-and-rescue response teams, one air defense asset team and two chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear explosives teams. (Priam Nepomuceno/PNA)
