THE Armed Forces on Monday confirmed at a congressional hearing the presence of at least eight foreign terrorists in the country.
Major General Felimon Santos Jr., an intelligence officer, made the disclosure before the House committee on national defense. He talked about the presence of foreign terrorists who might be helping some local terrorists in bomb-making and launching anti-government propaganda.
Santos said the nationalities of the foreign terrorists were Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean.
He said Malaysian authorities had discovered that terrorists had been using Sabah as a transshipment point to enter the Philippines.
He made his statement following the Quiapo bombing on Saturday said the government’s campaign against the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf “has been intensified and relentless” as the bandits were still holding at least 27 hostages.
Armed Forces Chief Eduardo Año said the Abu Sayyaf had attempted to expand their terrorist activities outside Central Mindanao to show the government its operations were getting wider.
He said even Metro Manila had been included in the group’s targets but government forces had been able to thwart their attempts.
He said the terrorists main operations remained in Central Mindanao, particularly in Lanao where they had their base.