Military to contain, wipe out foreign terrorists in Jolo –Lorenzana

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Monday said the military was closing in on foreign terrorists in Sulu's Jolo town, as these radicals no longer had the ability to shift their activities to other parts of the country.

"We hope to contain them in Jolo where they are now so that they cannot move to Basilan or Cotabato or in Central Mindanao or other places... Visayas and sa Manila. That's what we are guarding against," Lorenzana said on news channel CNN Philippines.

Furthermore, Lorenzana was confident the military would wipe out these foreign terrorists in the next three to six months.

Last week, Lorenzana warned that there was a possibility that terror activities would spillover to Metro Manila following recent bombing incidents in Mindanao, as well as the confirmed presence of foreign terrorists in the area.

"It is possible because if he is a Filipino and operating alone, 'yung tinatawag nating lone wolf, magdala lang siya rito or he can come here and produce bomb," Lorenzana had said.

The military had also confirmed that seven foreign terrorists are in Western Mindanao together with local terror groups. 

As far as the Philippine National Police was concerned, spokesman Brigadier General Bernard Banac said that the peace and order situation across the capital was under complete control, with no terror threats monitored. — Anna Felicia Bajo/DVM, GMA News