PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday ordered Bureau of Customs chief Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon to prepare for any possible threats down south with the return of the barter trade between Philippines and Malaysia this February.
“Commissioner Faeldon, you have your hands full because you will have the communist front confronting us. I terminated the ceasefire talks because they went overboard,” Duterte said in a speech during the 115th anniversary of the Bureau of Customs Wednesday.
“Then, you have the drug front and the coming of the ISIS. They will come I am sure. They have already anointed a leader from Sulu who is now in Central Mindanao. And the war there is going on until now,” he added.
He was referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria which is an extremist militant group that rules by Wahhabi/Salafi law. In Arabic, the group is also known as Daesh.
An example of ISIS is the terrorist group that is known for kidnapping western journalists and aid workers as part of their tactics.
To combat the extremist threat, Duterte said Faeldon needs to collect more revenue for the governemnt to fund its counter-terror operations.
“I would need money to buy the equipment and the things that they would need to keep this country in order,” the President said.
“I’d like to thank the Bureau of Customs for raising the revenue, at least a big chunk of the money comes from your toil and sweat,” he added.
Duterte said extremist threats were not present in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces until after the Malaysian and Philippine governments suspended the barter trade between the two countries.
“I really do not know why they cut it. And that was the time when they had a very serious problem about law and order in that place,” he said.
“There’s a war going on in the Central Mindanao. So that’s the bigger problem.”
Malacañang earlier announced that cross-border trade between Malaysia and the southern Philippines would resume Feb. 1, after being shut for a year due to kidnapping incidents.
Barter trade will initially cover Sabah in Malaysia and the island provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi on the Philippines’ southwestern tip.
Just recently, security officials said the homegrown terrorist groups had been uniting and evolving into just one group called Dawlatul Islamiyah Waliyatul Masrik or DIWM, and had chosen Isnilon Hapilon of the Abu Sayyaf as their sole leader in their aggressive efforts to be recognized by the ISIS.