By Xunhua,
Manila : Top Philippine officials on Thursday said that they were closing monitoring the alarming terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India’s financial capital, to preventthe potential threats of similar attacks to the Philippines.
“We are closely looking into the incident in Mumbai and at the same time checking on our own security situation here,” an online report of the Philippine Stars quoted National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales as saying.
But the country’s security chief said that there have been no reports of any movement by the different rebel groups, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to launch similar attacks.
Police spokesman Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome on Thursday also assured the public that the situation in India is not likely to have any effect on the domestic security situation.
“There is limited information about the group that laid siege in some plush hotels in Mumbai as of now, any spillover or sympathy actions in the Philippines is very unlikely,” Bartolome said.
“We are closely monitoring the situation in India and all police units remain on Full Alert condition because the president is out of the country,” he said.
In the National Capital Region, Task Force Manila Shield has been activated since Nov. 21, placing a defensive web of intelligence operatives, police visibility patrol and tactical police units around Metro Manila to thwart any attempt by criminal and terrorist groups.
The Philippines used to be a hotbed of terrorist attacks in the Southeast Asia in the past few years with radical groups such as Abu Sayyaf launching a series of bloody attacks. Security forces have foiled two bomb attempts to blow off an airport and the capital region in the past week.