CHIEF Supt. Noli Taliño, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), denied reports that two suspected members of the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) passed by Cebu before they were arrested by authorities in Manila.
“There were no indications that they came here. We neither received information about their presence nor reports that they recruited some individuals in Cebu,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Taliño said he nonetheless requested the intelligence units of the regional police to validate reports that Kuwaiti national Husayn Al-Dhafiri and Syrian national Rahaf Zina, both linked to ISIS, were said to have stayed in Cebu for three days and in Davao for four days.
In previous months, he said they also heard rumors that ISIS members were seen in Cebu. But upon validation, Taliño said they learned that the information was false.
“Here in Cebu, we have so far not received any specific or direct threat,” he said.
But if there is any lead regarding the issue, Taliño said the police is willing to step in.
“I’m sure ginagawa na ng national authorities. Kung ano man yung idi-direct sa atin na trabaho ay gagawin natin. Susuportahan natin yung investigation,” he said.
(I am sure that the national authority is doing something about that. Whatever they direct us to do, we will do. We will support the investigation.)
He said that he instructed the city and municipal police directors to monitor their respective areas when it comes to terrorism.
Lawyer Dominador Cimafranca, assistant director of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7), said they also have not seen or monitored the presence of ISIS members in the region.
“There’s really none. But we’re waiting for any instructions from our central office (following the arrest of two suspected ISIS members in Taguig),” he said.
Husayn and Rahaf, both alleged ISIS members, were arrested last March 25 by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Husayn is allegedly involved in explosives manufacturing and possibly on operational planning against Kuwait, while Rahaf is the widow of the slain Abu Jandal Al-Kuwaiti, who is the number two military commander of the ISIS operating in Syria.
The two whose arrests stemmed from the deportation request of the Kuwaiti Embassy are currently detained at the NBI while awaiting the finalization of the deportation proceedings against them./ Ray Chen Bahinting Silliman Intern