PH immigration in seaports, airports on heightened alert after Jolo blasts
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2019 05:12:44 +0000
IMMIGRATION personnel in seaports and airports nationwide are on heightened alert, Commissioner Jaime Morente said on Tuesday, following the twin blasts in Jolo, Sulu where at least 20 people were killed and about 100 others were injured over the weekend.
“I have instructed our Port Operations Division to alert all its personnel and be on the lookout for suspected foreign terrorists who might attempt to enter the country,” Morente said in a statement.
Morente said that only travelers with legitimate purpose of travel and proper and complete documents would be allowed to enter the country.
The Islamic State (IS) has owned up to the blasts at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral on Sunday.
The explosions occurred despite martial law in Mindanao, which President Rodrigo Duterte declared in May 2017 to quell a rebellion by the IS-inspired Maute group that laid siege to Marawi City in a bid to establish an independent state.
Government troops defeated the terrorists in October of the same year but Duterte asked Congress to extend martial law to keep the peace in the restive region. Lawmakers approved not one but two requests for an extension, with the term of the second to end in December 2019. CATHERINE MODESTO
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