Terror alert on in Mindanao ports

DAVAO CITY — Authorities have beefed up security in various seaports in Mindanao following recent intelligence reports that a terrorist group would launch bombings in ports or aboard passenger ships.

"Both the police and the military are now working on fresh intelligence reports that there is a group out to sow terror and use ports in Mindanao as staging points," a highly reliable source in the military intelligence community told The STAR.

The intelligence information reportedly prompted the police and the military to heighten the alert level not only in key cities but all over Mindanao.

"We do not know exactly how the bombings will be carried out but a group reportedly wants to create chaos," the source said.

The terror group reportedly has links with the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah which was blamed for various attacks in the region.

"It could be a retaliatory act on the part of the Abu Sayyaf following the government’s recent crackdown on their ranks," the source said.

Queried on the heightened security alert, Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, chief of the Armed Forces’ Southern Command, however, refused to give details of the intelligence reports, saying the information has gone through a validation process.

"There will always be reports like that and we are properly addressing them. I also do not want to say anything about our operations or we will be sending telegraphic messages of what our moves will be. But we are certainly doing something about it," Kyamko said.

Kyamko accompanied Gen. Narciso Abaya, Armed Forces chief, in visiting various military units in Mindanao in the wake of the intelligence reports.

"But people should understand that vigilance is still the key here. It is the cooperation of the community that is important in thwarting any terrorist attack. It does not only depend on the military and the police," Kyamko said.

In Davao City alone, passengers are subjected to several security checks before they can board ships. Last Wednesday, The STAR saw how the belongings of hundreds of passengers of Super Ferry 6 were checked at least seven times before they were allowed to board the vessel at the Sasa wharf.

A composite team of various agencies securing the Sasa wharf employs a dozen bomb-sniffing dogs. Aside from regular police forces, also involved in watching over Davao City’s busiest wharf are the military-led Task Force Davao, the Maritime Police, Coast Guard, the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit, Marines and the Philippine Ports Authority.

Sea marshals also reportedly board vessels to guarantee a safe trip. A team of Task Force Davao personnel also does a final check using bomb-sniffing dogs before ships are allowed to sail.

On April 2 last year, a powerful blast ripped through a row of food stalls in front of the passenger terminal of Sasa wharf, killing 17 people and wounding at least 70 others.

Last April 11, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte placed the city under "orange" alert, the second highest in a scale of five security alert levels, because of intelligence reports that terror attacks were being hatched against the cities of Davao and Cagayan de Oro.

Chief Superintendent Isidro Lapeña, Southern Mindanao police director, said the strict security measures at the Sasa wharf form part of intensified efforts to avert any terrorist attack.

Col. Gaudencio Pangilinan, Task Force Davao commander, said security was particularly heightened in possible "soft" targets such as churches, shopping malls, public markets and ports.

"We are doing everything to deter these terrorists from launching any attack," he said.