Alert lifted but PNP says stay vigilant

Alhabsi Misaya

A day after issuing an alert, the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) yesterday cleared the region of the presence of the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf.

“Upon validation, we found out that they are not here. A verification we conducted yielded negative results,” announced Supt. Julian Entoma, chief of the Regional Intelligence Group.

Entoma explained that while the regional police did not intend to scare people by issuing the alert last Monday, their pronouncements were based on information given by police at the Zamboanga Peninsula based in Zamboanga City.

“PRO-7 just had to exercise caution after we received that kind of tip. It turned out negative so that’s it,” Entoma said.

Central Visayas’ chief police intelligence officer, however, urged the public as well as law enforcement units to remain vigilant even though the report was a false alarm.

“Just because they are not here does not mean we should be complacent. We should be vigilant at all times,” Entoma stressed.

Entoma, on Monday, called on the public to be extra cautious after receiving intelligence reports that six members of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf group arrived in Cebu over the weekend.

According to the report that reached Entoma, the terrorists were led by a certain Commander Alhabsi Misaya.

The same information was also received by the Cebu City-based Armed Forces’ Central Command (Cencom).

Photographs of Misaya were immediately disseminated to the different police stations in Cebu as well as malls and other business establishments to avert trouble.

Meanwhile, Entoma said that security preparations for a peaceful observance of All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day were now in place.

To maintain peace and order in cemeteries, seaports, airports, and other public places, policemen will be reinforced by soldiers from Cencom from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.