Anthony Vargas
MANILA, Philippines – Metro Manila is “relatively safe” from terror attacks notwithstanding the travel advisories issued by at least six countries last week, the chief of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said Sunday.Nevertheless, Chief Superintendent Nicano Bartolome said “these (travel advisories) will also help us be more effective in our efforts to quickly respond to any crisis and prevent any terrorist incident in Metro Manila.”
The administration has reacted vehemently to the travel advisories issued by the United States, United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, with President Benigno Aquino III vowing to “express our displeasure that there is no adequate basis” to the warnings. His defense secretary, Voltaire Gazmin, also brushed off the advisories.
But a former police intelligence chief, retired general Rodolfo Mendoza Jr., said the advisories “should not be disregarded” since the countries that issued them “have the capacity to collate information and they have the capacity to analyze information.”
The advisories were issued soon after the foiling of a plot to attack the US with bombs sent through cargo forwarders.
While more receptive to the advisories, Bartolome also assured that the 17,000-strong NCRPO is capable of keeping Metro Manila safe, terror threat or not.
With the Christmas season coming up, the NCRPO has beefed up its forces with personnel from the Regional Public Safety Battalion, deploying them to tourist spots and key economic areas in the metropolis since last month.
“They (augmentation forces) were deployed as early as mid-October in anticipation of more people visiting Metro Manila during the holiday season,” Bartolome said.
Metro Manila’s five police districts have also set up Police Assistance Desks (PADs) at transport terminals, commercial centers and malls.
Metro Manila is not new to terror attacks. On December 30, 2000, the Light Rail Transit was bombed, killing 26 and injuring dozens more. The Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) has been blamed for the incident.
On February 14, 2005, members of the Abu Sayyaf, Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM) and JI set off near simultaneous explosions in Makati, General Santos and Davao Cities, killing at least eight people and wounding scores of others.
A year before this, the Abu Sayyaf set off a bomb on the Superferry 14 in Manila Bay, sinking the vessel and killing more than 100 persons, the deadliest terrorist attack at sea.
