Palace unfazed by urban terror threat

Newly promoted police officers take their oath during at Camp Crame in this file photo. President Aquino has directed the security forces to neutralize “all enemies of the state, all criminals and all outlaws,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma told a Palace briefing on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2014. INQUIRER/ MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines—Malacañang is unfazed by the threat of renegade groups in Mindanao—led by the so-called “spoilers” in the peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)—to sow terror in Metro Manila and other urban centers.

President Aquino has directed the security forces to neutralize “all enemies of the state, all criminals and all outlaws,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma told a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

Allaying fears the rebels might take the fight to highly populated urban areas, Coloma said the Armed Forces of the Philippines, other security forces and intelligence operatives were safeguarding the peace around the clock.

“I assure you that the AFP and security forces are not remiss in their duty to ensure the safety of all people at all times,” he said.

Coloma said the government could not be “complacent” and allow renegade groups to exploit the situation by spoiling the peace process and endangering people’s lives.

“The overarching strategy is to pursue peace,” Coloma said.

Negotiators for the government and the MILF signed the annex on normalization, the last of the four annexes to the framework peace agreement, on Jan. 25.

They also signed an addendum on the “Bangsamoro Waters.”

The framework agreement, which was signed on Oct. 15, 2012, served as the “road map” for the creation of a so-called autonomous “Bangsamoro entity” that will replace the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The President expects the framework agreement to lay the groundwork for a lasting and genuine peace in the troubled south.

He urged the public to cooperate with the authorities as well as to observe “heightened vigilance.”

“At all times, (the public) should have a heightened vigilance level because that’s our only protection from … uncertainty and danger,” said Coloma.

Asked if the President gave fresh instructions to pursue the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), which has eluded a dragnet set up by the AFP after weeklong fighting in Maguindanao, he said: “It’s the duty of the armed forces to ensure the safety of our people, so there has been no let-up (in the pursuit of) the enemies of the republic.”

Coloma assured the public that the authorities were continuing surveillance operations as part of their “proactive action.”

“That’s the continuing guidance being given to them by our president as commander in chief, and this (directive) is being implemented by our chief of staff and the major service commanders, and being supervised by the Department of National Defense,” said Coloma.

Coloma could not say whether or not government troops were aware of the whereabouts of Ameril Umbra Kato, the BIFF leader who ordered the attack on government troops two days after the finalization of the annexes to the peace agreement.

He said the BIFF remained a threat to security which the AFP was trying to nip in the bud through “proactive” intelligence gathering, surveillance and decisive action.