MANILA, Philippines – Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Metro Manila remained “relatively safe and stable,” as he reminded the military to do “more action” and “less talk” on reported security threats.

Teodoro said he directed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Victor Ibrado to verify the statement of the metropolitan military commander, Major General Jogy Leo Fojas, that al Qaeda-linked militants were planning bomb attacks in the capital.

“Metro Manila is relatively safe and stable that is why we advise authorities to do their job double, triple time. More action, less talk,” Teodoro told reporters in an interview in Manila.

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said authorities have yet to gather "solid information and evidence" to firm up the theory that bombings would be staged in the capital following a wave of bombings in Mindanao that killed at least six persons and injured dozen others.

“The reports are based on raw information. We have yet to find solid evidence, but that doesn't mean we should let our guards down,” Gonzales said told INQUIRER.net in a phone interview.

The situations in Mindanao and in Metro Manila are different and the possibility that the same level of violence will reach the urban areas would be difficult because of the tight security in place, he said.

“In Mindanao, the intention is to inflict as much casualties. In Metro Manila, the intention is just to deliver a message,” he said.

Teodoro said Fojas should not have divulged “raw intelligence information.”

“Kasi kung raw intelligence information, unsubstantiated, hindi dapat ginawa yun [If its raw intelligence information, unsubstantiated, it should not have been revealed],” Teodoro said.

Teodoro said it was up to Ibrado to determine whether or not Fojas would be sanctioned for revealing the alleged threat from the Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiyah, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

“Information management is crucial now. You know, if there’s intrigues of ‘August Moon’ in the air, I mean it tends to cause panic on the part of the public,” Teodoro said, referring to rumors of an early turnover of the military leadership to officials close to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“[The] headlines all over the papers today [Thursday], the thing speaks for itself. It causes me concern not alarm. Concern that we have to have a more careful information policy,” he said.

On Wednesday, police and military forces were placed on the highest alert to guard against a spill over of attacks in the south to the capital.

But on Thursday, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) downgraded its alert one notch lower because there was “no imminent threat,” said NCRPO spokesman Senior Superintendent Rhommel Miranda.