DAVAO CITY – Police and military forces further beefed up checkpoints in the region following Sunday’s two bomb attacks inside a Catholic church in Jolo, Sulu that left at least 20 people dead and injured several others.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, Police Regional Office-11 (PRO-11) director, ordered all police units on Monday to further intensify security measures in all cities and municipalities.
Morales, who condemned the Jolo bombing incident, said he also ordered the deployment of the maximum number of foot and mobile patrols, particularly in highly-populated areas.
Police stations were also directed to strengthen coordination with private security providers and security managers to “establish and enhance joint security protocols.”
“We call on our people to be vigilant and continue their active participation with security forces in reporting their observations since we cannot afford to take chances whenever there is a threat of terrorist activity,” Morales said.
Morales emphasized that counter-terrorism is a shared responsibility of the people and the government.
“Rest assured that the PNP will leave no stones unturned to bring justice to the victims of this dastardly act of terrorism,” the PRO-11 chief said.
Maj. Gen. Felimon Santos, commander of the Army’s Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom), also ordered close monitoring and coordination with their counterparts and other law enforcement agencies, such as the Philippine National Police and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency.
“Our security mechanism is in place to ensure the safety of everyone,” Santos assured the public.
He further assured that the troops have heightened the alert level in the Eastmincom area, particularly all places of worship and places of convergence.
“Be informed, however, that we have not received any hard information that any of our areas is directly under threat,” he added.
Santos also called on the public to be more vigilant and cooperative with authorities in reporting any security-related concerns.
Santos, who has recently assumed the Eastmincom leadership, also asked the public to remain calm and avoid spreading false information as it could only cause panic in the communities.
