No ISIS in PHL — Visaya

There are no members of the jihadist terror group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Philippines.

This was stressed by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya Thursday in a message to the PNA.

“There are no ISIS here. Only groups like ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) that publicly declared support to the said group are in Mindanao but they are not ISIS,” he added.

Visaya made this statement in response to claims made by acting Davao City mayor Paolo Duterte who earlier said that ISIS militants are threatening the city.

“I haven’t received any similar report but as always terrorist threats are part of our intelligence units monitoring efforts,” the AFP chief stressed.

The younger Duterte said that he has already alerted the local military and police to avert the plot.

But he did not elaborate on the threat which he said still being validated by authorities.

Nevertheless, he asked the public to be vigilant and report individuals who are acting suspiciously. (PNA) BNB/PFN