PALACE RESENTS PH TAG AS ISIS ‘TRAINING GROUND’

PHILIPPINE officials led by President Marcos pushed back against the foreign media for describing the country as a terrorism “training hotspot” after the father and son who massacred 15 people during an armed attack in Australia last December 14 were confirmed to have first stayed here for several weeks.

In a speech during the 90^th anniversary of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Camp Aguinaldo, the Chief Executive stressed Philippine security forces “have acted decisively to dismantle terrorist networks, secure communities, and protect the country’s hard-earned peace.”

“We also reject in the strongest terms the recent misleading claims that portray our country as a training hotspot for terrorism,” President Marcos said.

“For years, we have acted decisively to dismantle terrorist networks, to secure communities, and to sustain our hard-earned peace. To dismiss these gains with unfounded speculation is not acceptable,” he emphasized.

Records showed that the attackers, Sajid Akram, 50, an Indian national and his son, Naveed, 24, an Australian citizen, first arrived in Manila on November 1 then traveled to Davao City before returning to Manila on November 28 for their trip back to Australia.

Later Australian and Western media reports tend to confirm that both did not receive any terrorist training while in the Philippines for more than 3 weeks.

The reports claimed that Sajid had been previously investigated on suspicion of having links with ISIS, a global Muslim terrorist organization. The Australian police said they found two ISIS flags in their vehicle.

Sajid’s family and relatives in Hyderabad, India, said they have no idea when Sajid has been radicalized or where, as they have not seen him since going to Australia on a student visa in 1998.

His last visit home was in 2022 but failed to attend his father’s funeral in 2017, The Daily Mail reported on December 21.

Armed with assault rifles, father and son opened fire on a crowd of over 1,000 Jews celebrating the ‘Chanukah by the Sea,’ a much-publicized event ahead of the event.

It refers to the ‘Hanukkah,’ the Jewish ‘Festival of Light’ that commemorates the rededication of King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem after the Jews’ successful revolt against the Seleucid Empire in 164 BC led by Judas Macabbeus.

In the aftermath, 15 people were killed and about 40 more wounded. Sajid was eventually killed by the police while Naveed was seriously wounded and is now facing multiple criminal cases including 15 counts of murder, The Daily Mail report added.

National Security Adviser (NSA) Secretary Eduardo M. Año, also doubled down on the President’s statement.

“There is no valid report or confirmation that the two received any form of military training while in the country and no evidence supports such a claim at present.

“A mere visit does not support allegations of terrorist training and the duration of their stay would not have allowed for any meaningful or structured training,” said the highly respected former Army intelligence official and Armed Forces chief whose stellar military career resulted to the arrest and neutralization of top terrorist leaders over the years.

He added that foreign media reports continuing to portray Mindanao as a hotspot for violent extremism of Islamic State ideology “are outdated and misleading.”

Secretary Año also took a swipe at foreign media, citing the “importance of evidence-based reporting and responsible public discourse.”