NBI: ASEAN terror threat real, but no specific target

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations task force commander of the National Bureau of Investigation admitted that the threat of terrorism is real, although there is no specific target.

NBI assistant director Pedro Bulaong made the admission yesterday after briefing the members of the task force in their Central Visayas office.

Bulaong however said that they are already prepared for the summit, the NBI will be the lead investigating agency should there be any untoward incident during the summit.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales was earlier quoted as saying that the government is currently on a manhunt operation against a Vietnamese terrorist who is allegedly out to disrupt the ASEAN Summit.

Bulaong said they also received the same report and are closely monitoring it.

The NBI has an additional deployment of at least 60 personnel from Manila, Bohol and Dumaguete who shall compose the six forensic teams for the summit.

Bulaong said that they are now reviewing their security preparations that have been in place since December. According to their own dry run there might some problem with traffic snarls during the summit, but he assured preparations are already in place.

At least six countries also issued travel advisories to its citizen to refrain from going to Cebu and Mindanao. Among the countries that issued the advisories last December were United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Australia and the United States. - Fred P. Languido