Amid reports that fleeing Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) fighters have trooped to Mindanao, Malacañang on Tuesday assured that the government is ready to deal with the extremists group.
Citing figures compiled by the US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, The Washington Times reported there were more Islamic State-affiliated foreign fighters in Southeast Asia, especially from jihadi groups in Mindanao, than there ever were battling US forces in Afghanistan and Iraq during the height of the U.S.-led wars there.
“We assure the public that we are in a better position to deal with terrorists,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing.
“Hayaan n’yo silang magtangka na magkalat ng lagim, handa naman po tayo para ipatupad ang mga batas ng Pilipinas,” he added.
Roque also boasted the country’s increased capabilities in dealing with terrorists which was reported by the U.S. State Department.
The Washington Times report also noted that a U.S. State Department assessment puts the Philippines for the first time among the five countries with the most terrorist attacks.
“The Philippines, along with Afghanistan, India, Iraq and Pakistan, were the sites of nearly 60 percent of terrorist attacks last year,” the report said citing U.S. State Department officials said in their latest assessment of terrorist activity around the globe.
Last year, the Philippines dealt with the ISIS-linked Maute terror group that laid siege to Marawi City for five months.
At least 1,100 people, mostly terrorists, were killed in the five-month battle that erupted in the Islamic City in May 2017.
The Maute group was aiming to establish an ISIS stronghold in Mindanao, which would have served as the center of its caliphate. /muf