MANILA, Philippines - The defense department will tap its international links to verify reports that extremist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is recruiting Filipinos in Mindanao.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the information about the group’s supposed recruitment efforts came as a surprise for the military.
“They (military) were surprised because they did not monitor such activities or movements of Filipinos in the southern part of the Philippines,” Gazmin told radio station dzRH Thursday.
“Right now, we are verifying through our international network if there are indeed movements in the areas mentioned,” he added.
ISIS has been slaughtering several non-Muslims in Iraq as part of its goal to form an Islamic state in the Middle East.
Early this month, former President Fidel Ramos told ABS-CBN News Channel that about 100 young Filipino Muslims have infiltrated Iraq to train with the ISIS.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte later on revealed receiving information that there were people traveling to the Middle East to join a war.
A video clip showing Filipino lawless groups Abu Sayyaf and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement pledging alliance to ISIS also surfaced online. The military, however, has yet to confirm the alleged alliance between the local bandits and the ISIS.