MANILA, Philippines - The conflict in Zamboanga City, the recent bomb blast in Davao and the pork barrel fund mess prompted the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) to place Metro Manila on heightened alert yesterday.
NCRPO director Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr. also instructed all his police commanders to coordinate with leaders of the Muslim communities in Metro Manila to help them monitor possible sympathizers of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, Philippine National Police Public Information Office chief, said the PNP also assured the Muslim communities in Metro Manila that they have nothing to worry about their security.
Quoting Garbo, Sindac said the upgrading of the alert was meant to ensure the availability of policemen, secure vital installations and monitor crowded areas like malls, bus terminals, airports and seaports.
The PNP has not received any intelligence reports of similar attacks in Metro Manila but they are not taking any chances, Sindac said.
“Although we have not received any significant information of any serious threat inside the metropolis, the NCRPO chief has taken it upon himself to just heighten the alertness of the police force in Metro Manila so that our policemen will be on guard and they will, of course be more conscious in their respective police stations,†he said.
Sindac also pointed out that authorities are not discounting the possibility of MNLF fighters in Metro Manila, but they are counting on the Muslim leaders to help promote peace.
This developed as Senior Superintendent Maria Asuncion Placino, chief directorial staff of the PNP Police Community Relations Group, said they coordinated with imams to ensure peace and order in Metro Manila.