Philippine National Police spokesperson Police Colonel Bernard Banac. INQUIRER.net file photo / Cathrine Gonzales
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine National Police (PNP) admitted the threat of kidnapping in the southern part of the country but assured the public that the peace and order situation remains under control.
PNP spokesman Police Colonel Bernard Banac said this on Saturday after the US State Department advised its citizens about the risk of being kidnapped in three provinces in central Mindanao, Sulu province and Marawi City.
With this, the United States included the Philippines as among the 35 countries where US citizens are considered at high risk of being kidnapped.
READ: PNP chief on US travel advisory vs Mindanao: We can’t blame them
However, Banac said on Saturday that security measures remain tight in the country.
“Hindi naman natin kinakaila na meron talagang pangyayari ng kidnapping sa bahagi ng Southern Philippines na kung saan nandun yung mga terrorist groups. So normal lamang ito sa kanilang mga bansa na magkaroon ng kanilang security advisory para sa kanilang mga nationals na narito sa ating bansa,” he said in an interview with dzBB.
(We are not denying the fact that there is incidents of kidnapping in the southern part of the Philippines where there are presence of terrorists. It is just normal for their country to issue security advisory for their nationals who are here in our country.)
“Hindi natin sila masisi na talagang gusto naman nilang protektahan ang kanilang mga mamamayan subalit ang PNP, ang sinasabi po natin huwag po tayong mangamba. Ang peace and order po sa ating bansa ay under control natin dahil napakahigpit na po ng seguridad na pinapatupad natin hindi lamang ngayong eleksyon but maging sa lahat ng panahon,” he added.
(We cannot blame them if they really wanted to protect their own citizen but for the PNP, we are saying that they should not worry. The peace and order situation in our country remains under control because security is very tight not only during the elections but all the time.)
According to Banac, kidnapping incidents in the country has been going down in the past few years until the first quarter of 2019.
He also noted the PNP is continuing its intelligence gathering about suspected kidnapping groups.
“Patuloy po ang ating seguridad na pinapatupad doon, nakapaghigpit po at huwag po mag alala ang ating mga kababayan. Nakadeploy po lahat ang ating kapulisan,” he said.
(We continue to implement tight security measures and our countrymen should never worry. Our policemen are deployed in the area.) /jpv