MANILA – Many Filipinos in Paris now live in an atmosphere of fear, following a terror attack by three suspected members of the ISIS group, which resulted in the death of 12 people on Wednesday. The French government has since declared a heightened security alert, following the deadly act of violence.
“Nasa heightened alert ang buong Pransiya ngayon in-order ng Pangulong Francois Hollande. Ang mga behikulo hinaharang, pinapara, parang martial law ang pakiramdam dito (The iFrahole of France is on a heightened alert level now as ordered by Francois Hollande. Vehicles are blocked, stopped, it feels like Martial Law over here.),” said Leo
Mojica, ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau correspondent based in Paris.
“Maraming nabigla at natakot sa pangyayari dahil ngayon lang nangyari itong ganitong karumal-dumal na pagpatay ng tao (Many were stunned and fearful of the events that transpired because it is only now that this kind of deplorable killing has happened.),” he said.
He added the many Filipinos he interviewed about the incident have expressed their fears to leave their house.
Authorities have identified the three gunmen who carried out the deadly attack on the Charlie Hebdo headquarters as brothers Kouachi and Cherif Kouachi, and Hamyd Mourad.
Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly newspaper, known for their anti-religious spoofs. The publication as the target of a terrorist firebomb attack in 2011
Two of the three terror suspects are still at large. The youngest suspect, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, has reportedly turned himself in, French police said, while the other two are “on the loose, armed and dangerous.”
French police are in the process of a wide-scale manhunt for the remaining gunmen, who fled the scene by car.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday released a statement decrying the “senseless attacks”.
“We are appalled by the senseless attacks that took 12 innocent lives and wounded several others in Paris. We join the French nation and the rest of the world in denouncing this blatant disregard for human lives and the fundamental right of expression. We condole and sympathize with the families of the victims as they mourn the loss of their loved ones and begin their quest for justice.