By Allen Estabillo/Philippine News Agency
GENERAL SANTOS CITY — The chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Region 12 (Soccsksargen) has acknowledged the potential threat of suicide bombing in the region, even as he underscored the importance of raising law enforcement capability to better respond to violent attacks.
Brig. Gen. Eliseo Tam Rasco, director of the Police Regional Office 12 (PRO-12), said Friday police units around the region will continue to upgrade intelligence monitoring and security measures in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Rasco said policemen must also be equipped with skills and tools to better enforce countermeasures against suicide bombing, citing the terrorist attack on a military camp in Sulu that produced the first reported Filipino suicide bomber.
The PRO-12 chief called a regional command conference on Wednesday here to address the threat of suicide bombing. It was participated in by members of the regional police’s command group, directorial staff, provincial and city police directors, municipal police station chiefs and heads of the PNP operational support units.
Rasco said the meeting focused on the “pressing threat of suicide bombing” in the wake of the attack on a military camp in Indanan, Sulu on June 28 that killed eight people, including the two alleged suicide bombers and three soldiers.
Authorities later identified one of the suicide bombers as Norman Lasuca, and noted that it was the first officially confirmed case of a suicide bombing in the Philippines perpetrated by a Filipino.
Rasco said he has directed all city, provincial and municipal police chiefs to craft and implement contingency and camp defense plans against potential suicide bombing attacks.
“Our goal is to prepare our units to counteract and prevent any possible terrorist attack in the region,” Rasco said.
“We have to intensify our intelligence gathering and related preventive measures to ensure that no terroristic activity will ever succeed,” he added.
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