PH commits to help in campaigns vs IS

Photo from DFA Facebook page

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines made a commitment on September 18 through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in doing comprehensive efforts to fight the terrorist group Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The Philippines supported Security Council Resolution 2178 on overseas terrorist fighters adopted on September 24 because the country believed that ‘resolute and immediate action is necessary to suppress this group.’

“The Philippines condemns the war crimes and crimes against humanity being perpetrated by IS,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said.

Del Rosario said that the Philippines would do its part to help an international coalition to fight IS but without necessarily sending troops.

“As a responsible member of the international community, the Philippines will do its part in the global efforts to thwart IS and their false ideologies,” Del Rosario saied.

The Philippines intends to help out in the United States’ campaign against the Islamic State militant group.

The US government is apprehensive about the recruitment of foreign fighters as jihadists who have gone to the Middle East from the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and other countries in Southeast Asia – the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

According to US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, the US and the Philippines are surveilling very closely the possible recruitment of foreign fighters in the country by IS.

The Philippine protection and intelligence authorities have commenced the monitoring of possible recruitment by ISIS and other foreign extremist groups in the country.

“Of course, we want to do something na doable and within our capabilities without posing undue risks to their forces or the country at large,” President Benigno Aquino III said in an interview in New York on Tuesday.

The President made this statement in the midst of a threat from the Abu Sayyaf group, which had reportedly pledged allegiance to the ISIS, to kill a German hostage.

Meanwhile, officials in Maguindanao have refuted on Tuesday insinuations that local Muslim residents are being recruited by members of a group affiliated with the IS now declared an enemy of the United States and its allies.

The Provincial Peace and Order Council (PPOC), chaired by Maguindanao Governor Esmael Mangudadatu, Brigadier General Edmundo Pangilinan, and Senior Superintendent Rudelio Jocson stated during a council meeting last Tuesday in Buluan town that the local Islamic communities remain in control and that there are no indications of any IS recruitment activities in any of the 36 towns in the province.

With report from Cyra Moraleda