Philippine military chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang. AP
MANILA, Philippines–The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has boosted the number of troops in Mindanao to improve the monitoring of groups there that are reportedly recruiting for the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
“We added an additional brigade (around 1,500 soldiers) in Mindanao. They are scattered across Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi,” General Gergorio Catapang, AFP Chief of Staff, said following the budget hearing of the Department of National Defense (DND) in the Senate.
He said they will monitor and gather intelligence related to reports that the ISIS was recruiting in the Philippines as well as to “stabilize the situation in Zamboanga city.”
“We want people to feel secured especially after one year [since] the Zamboanga incident,” Catapang said.
During the hearing presided by Senator Loren Legarda, DND secretary Voltaire Gazmin reiterated that they are taking the ISIS threat “very seriously.”
“But at the moment, we have not received and verified the existence of ISIS here in the Philippines. Some groups are using ISIS as propaganda to recruit membership in their terror group, particularly the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.
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