MANILA: The Philippine National Police yesterday defended the US travel advisory on its citizens worldwide in light of the arrest of local terrorist group members with links to international terror organizations.
In a statement, Police Senior Superintendent Reuben Sindac, PNP-Public Information Office chief, said the recent US travel ban is just a measure to ensure the safety of its citizens in the country.
“We take the recent worldwide travel warning issued by the US with serious attention and great concern, more so because there are domestic threat groups with links to international terrorist organizations that are operating in the Philippines.
“It is the responsibility of any foreign government to ensure the safety of its citizens while travelling to different global destinations. The US is keen on exercising this responsibility by alerting it citizens as well as allied law enforcement counterparts of potential terror threats,” Sindac said.
Sindac added that the PNP leadership is also on the alert to ensure the safety of every Filipino and foreigner in the country.
“We recognise the US’ own way of handling and responding to information to this effect.
“Our own response to this worldwide travel warning is consistent with our own security procedures and protocols, particularly our three-tiered defence system of intelligence, target-hardening and incident management,” he said. The Philippine star
