Embassy confirms receipt of terror attack warning in PH, 5 others

MANILA – The Japanese Embassy in Manila on Tuesday confirmed that Tokyo has received an intelligence report about a possible terror attack in six countries, including the Philippines.

In a statement sent via email, the Embassy said it cannot disclose details, but the advisory is addressed to its citizens.

“We confirm that the Japanese government has received information about a possible terror attack, but we cannot give you any detailed background at the moment. In relation to this, we issued a warning to alert Japanese people residing in some Southeast Asian countries, but we cannot disclose the source,” it said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, on the other hand, said they have not received any official report about the threat.

“The DFA has not been officially informed about this matter. Travel alerts for a country’s citizens are usually not officially notified to other countries, however, this type of information may have been shared among intelligence agencies,” DFA Assistant Secretary Eduardo Meñez told reporters.

AFP spokesperson, Col. Ramon Zagala also assured that the Philippine government takes seriously all received reports of possible terrorism-related activities.

“We constantly validate all reports on security matters and it is a continuous process. As per last review our threat level is moderate,” he said.

“We ensure that all citizens, Filipinos or not, as long as they are within our territory, are protected and kept safe from terrorists’ threats. This is also to underscore the importance of the active participation of the populace in defeating terrorism since security is, after all, everyone’s concern,” he added.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry, cited by reports on Monday, warned its citizens in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar to stay away from religious facilities and crowds after obtaining information that “there are increased risks such as suicide bombing.”