CLARK FREEPORT – Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin blamed here yesterday the travel advisories issued by the US and four other countries against travelling to the Philippines as the cause of widespread fear among Filipinos despite the lack of any “concrete” evidence that the country is under terrorist threat.
In press briefing here after witnessing the turn-over of four new trainer aircraft manufactured by an Italian firm, Gazmin said that he was not even aware of any bomb threat in Metro Manila from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as being reported in the media.
“That bomb scare is a result of the advisory. Lahat takot na, nagnenerbiyos na lahat ng tao. (Everybody is now scared, everyone has become jittery),” he said.
Asked by Punto whether the travel advisory, issued recently by the US and its known allies Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada, could be a “reminder” from the US on the role of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) against terrorism in the country, Gazmin declined to comment.
But he added that he was puzzled particularly by the US advisory which, he noted, came after the discovery of bombs disguised as printer cartridge on a cargo aircraft from Yemen en route to destinations in Chicago. “So why was there an advisory (on the Philippines)”, he asked.
“You speculate,” he said after declining to reply to the question.
Gazmin, however, reiterated that despite the lack of concrete evidence, the government is taking seriously the cited reasons for the travel advisories. “Of course, we are concerned with the presence of the Abu Sayyaf and the MILF, but they are concentrated only in Mindanao.”
He said that any arrest on purported terrorist threat in Metro Manila would only manifest that “our intelligence effort is very effective and is working.”
“We will continue to deploy our intelligence units to be able to monitor all these things,” he said, amid plans to deploy more “non-uniformed troops” in crowded areas and transport terminals in various parts of the country.
Gazmin said “we are doing our part to make sure that nothing untoward would happen. We are utilizing all the intelligence units, coordinating with the police and involving almost everyone so that there will be vigilance in our society.”
He said that plans to deploy more uniformed troops in crowded areas were abandoned to avoid giving the impression of militarization. “We are trying to avoid that. So what we are doing right now is fielding our non-uniformed troops to be able to monitor things in our areas, particularly in crowded places and areas where there are transport like airports,” he added.
In press briefing here after witnessing the turn-over of four new trainer aircraft manufactured by an Italian firm, Gazmin said that he was not even aware of any bomb threat in Metro Manila from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) as being reported in the media.
“That bomb scare is a result of the advisory. Lahat takot na, nagnenerbiyos na lahat ng tao. (Everybody is now scared, everyone has become jittery),” he said.
Asked by Punto whether the travel advisory, issued recently by the US and its known allies Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Canada, could be a “reminder” from the US on the role of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) against terrorism in the country, Gazmin declined to comment.
But he added that he was puzzled particularly by the US advisory which, he noted, came after the discovery of bombs disguised as printer cartridge on a cargo aircraft from Yemen en route to destinations in Chicago. “So why was there an advisory (on the Philippines)”, he asked.
“You speculate,” he said after declining to reply to the question.
Gazmin, however, reiterated that despite the lack of concrete evidence, the government is taking seriously the cited reasons for the travel advisories. “Of course, we are concerned with the presence of the Abu Sayyaf and the MILF, but they are concentrated only in Mindanao.”
He said that any arrest on purported terrorist threat in Metro Manila would only manifest that “our intelligence effort is very effective and is working.”
“We will continue to deploy our intelligence units to be able to monitor all these things,” he said, amid plans to deploy more “non-uniformed troops” in crowded areas and transport terminals in various parts of the country.
Gazmin said “we are doing our part to make sure that nothing untoward would happen. We are utilizing all the intelligence units, coordinating with the police and involving almost everyone so that there will be vigilance in our society.”
He said that plans to deploy more uniformed troops in crowded areas were abandoned to avoid giving the impression of militarization. “We are trying to avoid that. So what we are doing right now is fielding our non-uniformed troops to be able to monitor things in our areas, particularly in crowded places and areas where there are transport like airports,” he added.
