AFP not discounting possibility that foreign terrorists are in PHL

The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Thursday said it is not discounting the possibility that foreign terrorists have entered the country even as it assured the public that it is keeping a tight watch on all entry and exit points.

“We cannot discount the possibility of foreign fighters surreptitiously able to enter the country given our vast and porous borders,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Edgard Arevalo said in a press statement. 

“That is why we are also keeping a tight watch over the country’s crevices. We have enhanced our own monitoring and security posture to keep our sea and air ports in check,” he added.

Arevalo said they do this with the help of domestic and international agencies and local government units.  

“We have conventions and agreements with other regional and global partners like trilateral joint patrol agreements with Malaysia and Indonesia,” he said.

More importantly, it is the vigilance, cooperation, and active participation of the people in the communities who can monitor and report arrival of new faces in the neighborhood that they need, Arevalo added.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said they are verifying reports that foreign terrorists have entered Mindanao.

“That is also what we got and we are trying to confirm it. That is another reason to bolster our argument sa extension ng martial law. Kung maraming pumapasok na mga foreign terrorist, then the more na we need to do it strictly sa Mindanao, ‘yung fighting against them using martial law,” he said after the Philippine Army Special Operations Command turnover ceremony on Monday.

Among the foreign terrorists who have entered the country were Amin Bacu, who reportedly took the place of Isnilon Hapilon as the head of the Maute-ISIS when the latter was killed in a military operation. Reports have it that he was also killed by government troops.

Indonesian national Muhammad Ilham Syahputra was arrested while trying to escape. He told the police that Malaysian lecturer turned Maute financier Dr. Mahmud Ahmad has been killed by government troops. —KG, GMA News