ASEAN Summit events in Bohol will push through as scheduled—DILG

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Saturday assured that the scheduled activities for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Bohol will push through as scheduled. (Photo: ASEAN 2017/ Facebook)

MANILA—The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Saturday assured that the scheduled activities for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Bohol will push through as scheduled.

“Bohol might as well be considered a well-fortified and most secure place in the country right now despite the attack that killed three soldiers, a cop, and at least six of the armed men in the clashes that started at 5 a.m. on Tuesday,” DILG Officer -in-Charge Catalino Cuy said in a press statement.

He quoted Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto’s statement that the situation in Inabanga town was “contained and did not affect the rest of Bohol or the rest of the country.”

The firefight happened after Abu Sayyaf members, on board three speedboats, were spotted along a river in Sitio Ilaya, Barangay Napo in Inabanga town at around 10 a.m. last Monday.

Three soldiers and a policeman died in the encounter while six members of the Abu Sayyaf, including its sub-leader Muammar Askali alias Abu Rami, were also killed.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN activities in Bohol will take place at the Hennan Resort in Panglao. These will be held from April 19 to 20.

Cuy said about 4,000 personnel from the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, emergency response units and various agencies will be deployed during the ASEAN Summit meetings, which are expected to draw around 200 delegates.