DOJ orders probe of alleged Northern Luzon terror threat

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday said it would instruct the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to verify reports of an alleged terrorist plot in several parts of Northern Luzon.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he would also order the NBI to work with other intelligence agencies to ascertain and uncover details about the alleged terror threat targeting churches located in the north.

There have been reports that intelligence units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Northern Luzon Command (AFP-Nolcom) issued an alert memo allegedly about a “Crusader City” with business centers and “Crusader Churches” in their area as targets for a terror attack.

“I will direct the NBI to coordinate with other intelligence agencies to verify this alleged entry of Islamic State-affiliated terrorists into our country,” Guevarra said.

“Crusader Cities” are what the IS calls its target areas to incite a religious war. The authorities are verifying intelligence reports that jihadists are planning to bomb Catholic churches in Northern Luzon.

AFP spokesperson Edgard Arevalo clarified that the memo “is genuine but the intent for issuing it is primarily for verification as to the reliability of the source and the veracity of the information.”

The military is reportedly monitoring Laoag City in Ilocos Norte; Vigan City in Ilocos Sur; Manaoag, Pangasinan and Tuguegarao City in Cagayan.

The Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Manaoag, which is a popular pilgrimage site in Pangasinan, has been put under tight watch.

Laoag and Vigan are home to historic landmarks, including major churches that are among the top tourist destinations. An 18th-century Baroque church, meanwhile, is located in Tuguegarao.

According to rector Fr. Reginald Malicdem, the Manila Cathedral has increased its security since the Jolo Cathedral bombing last Jan. 27 wherein 20 people were killed and more than a hundred were wounded.

One of the measures undertaken is the inspection of bags of visitors entering the church. Two K-9 dogs are alternately assigned to patrol the premises.

The Manila Cathedral, or the Minor Basilica and Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, is considered as the country’s mother church.

Family feud, not terror plot

The AFP also clarified that reports of Sri Lankan terrorists entering the Philippines were nothing more than a family feud “gone awry.”

“Per verification, there is good reason to doubt the veracity of the report as it came out in the papers. This appears to be family matters where relationship has gone awry and went from bad to worse,” Arevalo said yesterday.

On Saturday, Arevalo said the AFP was verifying reports that a certain Mark Kevin Samhoon and Victoria Sophia Sto. Domingo––whom reports tagged as “suicide bombers”––have entered the Philippines from Sri Lanka, and were working with an extremist group based in Northern Luzon to launch terror attacks on churches and other establishments.

Sto. Domingo has executed an affidavit to the National Bureau of Investigation’s Counterterrorism Division (NBI-CTD) on July 22.

She denied that she and her fiancé were suicide bombers and neither was her mother, Anarkalie Dulara Palliyaguruge Sto. Domingo, a “terrorist financier.”

Furthermore, she denied that her father, Diosdado Manolette Mortalla Sto. Domingo, was behind the tagging and spreading the lie to authorities.

Arevalo said the NBI-CTD can provide more details and as for the military, “we enjoin the public to remain calm and go on with their daily lives.”

“AFP chief of staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., advises our people not to be easily swayed by unconfirmed media reports and information from individuals or groups whose reports come from unverified sources or are yet to be validated,” he stressed.

Arevalo gave assurance that the military will continue to coordinate and collaborate with the NBI, PNP and other relevant government agencies here and abroad to strengthen intelligence and security.

Baguio Muslims, Catholics unite vs terror threats

Monsoon rains did not stop Muslims in Baguio City yesterday to head to the Baguio Cathedral and offer flowers to Catholics in a rare show of solidarity and amity amid creeping threats of extremist terror in Northern Luzon.

Baguio Muslim community president Samsudin Monib, also an Imam or worship leader, led his brethren in showing a sense of security around and inside the church with several cops in tow.

Security arrangements were placed within the perimeter of Baguio Cathedral as part of efforts to thwart terrorism believed to target “Crusade Churches.”

Muslims said terrorism “has no religion and it has no place in Baguio City.”

Baguio Catholics said they felt secure at the sight of Muslims and policemen around their church.

Sunday’s show of solidarity against extremism came amid fears of fundamental Islamic terrorism going north.

Ilocos Norte police chief Col. Cesar Pawiwen said such information is being validated, while Tuguegarao City police received last Monday valuable information from Mohammad Nur Pangcoga, president of the Cagayan Muslim Association, that three wanted Maute group remnants went to the city on July 30. – With Michael Punongbayan, Artemio Dumlao