Armed cops including Special Weapons and Tactics team members are back in urban centers, patrolling Divisoria and other crowded commercial areas. Outside Metro Manila, heavily armed soldiers have been deployed in transportation hubs and major highways.
The security forces are not enforcing COVID mobility restrictions. Instead police and military officials say their forces are on alert following a series of bombings in Mindanao in the past weeks that were blamed on extortionists, although terrorism has not been ruled out.
Yesterday, the officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police also said probers were exploring the possibility of political rivalries behind the explosions that rocked Isabela in Basilan last Monday as well as earlier bombings targeting buses and bus terminals in Koronadal, South Cotabato and Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat.
Police noted that the attack in Koronadal was staged after the bus company rejected an extortion attempt. Last Wednesday in Cotabato, police shot dead a man believed to be a bomb courier of the terrorist Dawla Islamiyah and arrested another suspect.
Islamic extremists as well as communist New People’s Army rebels are the most notorious perpetrators of armed extortion in the countryside, demanding “revolutionary taxes” from private businesses and torching the properties of those who refuse. Such extortion has been one of the biggest disincentives to job-generating investments and other economic activities.
Whether the bombings can spread to Metro Manila remains to be seen. Some groups have expressed concern that the heightened alert and troop deployment are merely part of security preparations for the leadership turnover at noon of June 30. The PNP, however, says it simply wants to take no chances, considering that Metro Manila has suffered deadly terrorist attacks in the past.
Public vigilance is being urged against suspicious activities and packages left unattended. Incidents or tips can be texted to Hotline numbers 0999-901-8181 and 0915-888-8181.