Angeles tourist district closed for Talon Vision drills

ANGELES CITY — The tourist district along Fields Avenue were closed to traffic yesterday amid fears of terrorist car bombings that could occur for the duration of the US-RP Talon Vision exercises at the nearby Clark special economic zone and Crow Valley in Capas, Tarlac.

Scores of heavily armed, uniformed members of the regional mobile group (RMG) from Camp Olivas have taken over security in the tourist district, which used to be known as a red light district frequented by US servicemen before the US Air Force abandoned Clark in 1991.

Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan said some two kilometers of the avenue, flanked by restaurants and nightclubs, were closed to traffic starting Thursday upon the request of Mayor Carmelo Lazatin.

Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command spokesman Maj. Ferdinand Casalan cited reports that though members of the Balik Islam movement "are not (terrorist) suspects but could be contacted and used by extremists."

Rafanan, however, downplayed threats from the Balik Islam movement, saying that it has already been wiped out years ago by police operatives and it’s organizers arrested in Tarlac.

Casalan said the military has always been on alert for possible terrorist operations, especially in densely populated areas such as markets, malls and churches.

Lazatin could not be immediately contacted, but Angeles police director Senior Superintendent Policarpio Segubre said he received verbal instructions "from higher authorities" to close the street but declined to elaborate. — Ding Cervantes