MANILA – The Armed Forces of the Philippines has not monitored any security threat from terrorist groups ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) Monday.
But the Armed Forces will remain on heightened alert, assured Colonel Noel Detoyato, Public Affairs Office chief.
“The AFP has not monitored any threat from local terrorist groups,” Detoyato said in a statement Sunday. “[But] its forces will continue to be on proactive stance against all threats of violence and will exert every effort to preserve peace.”
Detoyato advised the public to stay vigilant and inform the authorities about any suspicious-looking individuals and activities.
“The fight against terrorism and preservation of peace is a shared responsibility of everyone,” he said.
Protocol requires the Armed Forces to step up its alert status to “red” in its general headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, and the AFP Wide Service Support Units since Friday.
This will “ensure that AFP units are capable of immediate readiness to respond [to] any threat that may arise during the SONA,” said Detoyato.
Moreover, the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region (JTF-NCR) will lead in supporting the Philippine National Police’s security operations for the SONA, the military official said.
The JTF-NCR will deploy three infantry companies, two infantry platoons, seven civil disturbance management companies, three search-and-rescue response teams, one air defense asset team, and two chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear explosives teams./PN
