PRESIDENTIAL son and Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte was rattled on Thursday after receiving information that the so-called Islamic State terrorist group, or Daesh, would stage an attack in his city.
Duterte, who is acting mayor in the absence of his sister Mayor Sara Duterte-Morales who filed a leave of absence on the first day of her second term as mayor, declined to give details except that he had information on the whereabouts of the terrorist group.
“We are intensifying our intelligence monitoring. As of now we cannot disclose any details or confirm anything yet,” Duterte said, adding that he ordered the police to beef up security measures and intensify intelligence monitoring to avert possible attacks from the terrorist group.
“I have already coordinated with the city’s anti-terrorism group, Task Force Davao, the Davao City Police Office, and the Eastern Mindanao Command to get more information about the threat,” Duterte said.
But Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya eased public alarm and clarified that there were no verified reports of any threat by Daesh and that there are no Daesh members in the Philippines.
“There are no ISIS here. Only groups like (the Abu Sayyaf group) that publicly declared support to the said group are in Mindanao but they are not ISIS,” he added.
“I haven’t received any similar report but as always terrorist threats are part of our intelligence units monitoring efforts,” the AFP chief stressed, asking the public nevertheless to be vigilant and report suspicious individuals.
Even Duterte’s chief of police Sr. Supt. Michael John Dubria said that the information the vice mayor received was raw and required proper verification.
“As of the moment, we are still on normal status. However, when the President arrives, the entire city will be put in a heightened alert,” Dubria said.