Security analyst: PH should worry about IS terror threats

An image grab taken from a propaganda video uploaded on June 8, 2014, by the jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. (AFP photo/HO/ISIL)

MANILA – Security analyst Rommel Banlaoi called on the Philippine government to intensify its security measures against the Islamic State (IS) terrorists, following the bombings and shootings in Paris on Friday.

“We should not be complacent about the threat posed by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) because right now, we monitored at least six self-proclaimed ISIS followers in the Philippines. And if you will review all the videos of the Abu Sayyaf Group, they are displaying the black flag of ISIS, so they are bandwagoning on the popularity, the global popularity of ISIS now,” Banlaoi said in an ABS-CBN report.

The security analyst also urged the government to be wary of IS’ aggressive recruitment, noting the presence of the terror group in the country.

“Right now ISIS is very aggressive in recruiting followers through social media mechanism. They are very active in Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and they don’t need to send actual organizers to go to the Philippines. They just need to access the Internet and start recruiting people from the Internet, particularly those younger ones,” he said.

“And the Philippines is vulnerable to the radical ideas of ISIS because of many underlying conditions and also because of the local grievances that ISIS can take advantage of,” he added.