terror threat for Dumaguete City

On of the reasons I stopped reading news papers here, the other being the omnipresent Philippine Political Theater that is repeating it's self over over again, ad absurd um...

 

For sure, I have learned my lesson. I won't post anymore alerts I receive from the mayor. Have just sent an inquiry to him as to the status of this threat, but I probably won't get a reply tonight.....I am done posting regading this...it is going to get ridiculous.

 

Maybe an IT guy fooled you..... Do not believe what you read and that includes e-mail. A friend of mine told me today that there is NOT such a statement from the Gov.Office. in Dumaguete. Are you sure it was not the mayor in Cotabato?
Relax and enjoy the Boulevard.

 

when you let your guard down is when they will strike :(

 

From the Visayan Daily Star;

"Police and military operatives are warning banks and big financial institutions and pawnshops to be on guard following the supposed arrival of alleged members of the notorious Ozamiz robbery-hold-up group in Dumaguete.

Acting provincial police director Supt. Alet Virtucio, however, said yesterday Sunday that the reported presence of two alleged members of the Ozamiz group has to be validated yet.

Reports reaching the Philippine National Police in Negros Oriental said the armed men had been spotted for at least two days at a mall in Dumaguete.

It could not be ascertained who the targets of these armed men are, Virtucio said.

Military and police intelligence operatives said the suspected hold-up gang members suddenly disappeared after they were deployed to the mall.

Meanwhile, the police are coordinating with the banks to check their alarm systems and alert their security guards amid the reported arrival of the Ozamiz group members.

Virtucio said the PNP had earlier conducted a dry run on bank security so security officials could learn the drill in case of untoward incidents.

The police are also coordinating with barangay officials to monitor the presence of suspicious persons in their areas.

In a related development, the PNP’s Ordnance Explosive Division and the Special Weapons and Tactics team will conduct an orientation this morning at the Robinson’s Place shopping mall on the types of bombs and explosive devices.

Virtucio said the activity is designed for mall security to familiarize themselves with bomb materials such as detonating cord, blasting caps and the like that they have to watch out for when doing security checks on bags of people coming to the mall.

Improvised explosive devices come in varied and may be liquid or solid such as those used for fertilizer, Virtucio added.* JFP"

 

From the Cebu Daily News;

"Stay calm. It's just a hoax.

The region's top police official yesterday denied reports that a group of Abu Sayyaf cadres are in Cebu to sow terror as part of a test mission.

"Wala pong katotohanan 'yon (That's not true at all)," said Chief Supt. Danilo Constantino, director of the Police Regional Office 7, said after a meeting with police and security officials to assess the reported threat.

He said heads of various police intelligence units who were directed to verify the report which spread via text messaging, said there was no basis to say that Central Visayas was being targeted by terrorists.

"We assure (the people) that we are on top of the situation," Constantino said.

"I'm appealing to the public not to glorify these rumors. It's not good for our economy, particularly our tourism industry. Let's put a stop to these jokes," he said in Filipino.

One hoax text message said Abu Sayyaf cadres were holed up in a safehouse in Lapu-Lapu city.

Text messages had circulated in the last two days claiming that after the bombings in Mindanao theVisayas will be Abu Sayyaf's next target, specifically the cities of Cebu, Dumaguete and Bacolod.

Constantino appealed to the public not to immedidately believe such reports and to refrain from forwarding alarming text messages that fan public anxiety.

"There's no cause for the public to be alarmed, but we cannot discount the probability and we are ready (to respond to threats)," Constantino said

The meeting at Camp Sergio Osmeña involved the regional anti-terrorism committe convergence group.

Nonetheless, authorities are not letting their guard down.

As a precautionary measure, Constantino ordered all provincial and city directors to field more police patrols.

"There's no truth to the report that Cebu is being targeted for bombing," said Supt. Paul Labra II, chief of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) after the meeting.

MISUNDERSTANDING

Jitters and overreaction almost got a woman in trouble yesterday.

The 27-year-old woman, a former sales agent, was intercepted by police at the Mactan Cebu International Airport after the ground staff of a local airline reported that she had made a bomb threat over the phone.

It turned out to be a "misunderstanding", said the police. The airline's call center agent who attended to the woman misinterpreted her query.

Senior Supt. Ritchie Posadas, chief of the regional Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said they received a call from the Police Center for Aviation Security (PCAS) seeking their intervention.

The airline ground staff alerted them that the female caller told them about a bomb explosion in the airports in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro City. A team was immediately sent to the MCIA departure area to intercept the caller.

The woman denied making a bomb threat. She said she merely asked about a text message she received about an alleged bombing threat in airports in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro.

The woman, a regular passenger of the airline, was immediately released and was allowed to board her flight to Bacolod.

In North Cotabato, Mindanao, four people were wounded when a grenade went off last night outside a house of a militiaman in Kabacan.

A 40mm grenade ammunition was fired at the residence of Eddie Antolin, who was wounded in the attack together with his 9-year-old son and his in-laws Benjamin and Lucena Ferrer."

- See more at: Police dispel rumors of terror cadres in town | Cebu Daily News: Latest News & Photos from Cebu, Philippines & beyond

 

"It's not good for our economy, particularly our tourism industry."

That is the most truth I have seen in any of the articles.

Scott

 

Yes, with "We assure (the people) that we are on top of the situation," being the scariest part of any of the articles!

Larry

 

You have to face the reality of this kind of threat, it's almost impossible to stop people with a strong believe in what they intend to do...

 

Its not good for anything to cry "the wolf is coming" repeatedly and for no particular reason. There has never been a single terror attack in the whole central Visayas region. So why scare turists away and scare the people living here by creating unfounded rumours, that for the first time ever it is just about to happen now?

There are enough places in the world, where terror attacks actually orrur regularly, to also worry about potential new places, where they might occur. And most foreign governments are already warning against travel to Mindanao. There is no need to also warn against travel to central Visayas (Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental and Siquijor), where many people depend on turism for their living. And which is just as safe as other turist destinations in eg. Thailand, where people might select to go instead, if they are given the impression, its very dangerous to come here.