Despite threats, pope refused to wear bulletproof vest

MANILA, Philippines - Despite reported threats on his life, Pope Francis refused to ride a bulletproof popemobile and wear a bulletproof vest during his recent five-day visit in the country.

“These were two non-negotiable matters with the pope. The popemobile, because he wants to be close to the people, and the vest, he just won’t wear it,” Philippine National Police (PNP) director for operations Ricardo Marquez said in a chance interview with The STAR.

Marquez, who also heads the Special Task Force Papal Visit 2015, said the PNP had prepared a bulletproof vest for the 78-year-old pontiff but the papal security team discarded the idea, apparently upon the pope’s wishes.

Along with PNP acting Deputy Director Leonardo Espina, Marquez and his team were holed up in a hotel in Manila which served as center of police operations and deployment during the five-day visit.

En route to Manila last week, Pope Francis posted in his Twitter account, “My life is in the hands of God.”

In the face of death, the pope said, “I tell God to make it quick. I’m not good in facing pain.”

During his visit last week, Pope Francis had also shunned the use of bulletproof popemobiles and preferred to ride open vehicles.

During the first papal visit in 1970, a Bolivian painter named Benjamin Mendoza posed as a priest and swung a knife at Pope Paul VI.

Paul VI was wounded in the chest but continued his trip without disclosing the injury.

In 1995, the police foiled an assassination plot against Pope John Paul II one week before he arrived in the country for the celebration of the World Youth Day.

Among the plotters were Ramzi Yousef, convicted mastermind of the first attack on the World Trade Center in New York, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, architect of the 9/11 terror attacks.

ISIS-trained engineer spotted in Tacloban

A Filipino engineer who was recruited and trained in nuclear technology by terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was spotted in Tacloban City in Leyte days before Pope Francis visited the typhoon-ravaged area, a source told The STAR yesterday.

The source, who works with international intelligence agencies, said the ISIS-trained Filipino engineer known only by his alias “Isiah” was posing as a social worker helping calamity victims in the Visayas region.

“Our asset monitored the suspected terrorist traveling by land from Manila to Tacloban,” he said.

However, he said his asset lost track of the suspect because of Tropical Storm Amang that was approaching the Visayas at the time.

According the source, Isiah was a government scholar in a state university who graduated with a degree in chemical engineering and gained some units in electronics courses before he was recruited to join the extremist group.

“He was sent to Iran to study nuclear technology for three years and returned to the country last year,” he said.

The source said Isiah was not included in the list of international terrorists and he has no criminal record in the country. – With Perseus Echeminada