THE business sector in Davao City remains calm on the heels of the heightened alert mode of law enforcement agencies following a series of bombings in some parts of Mindanao.
Teolulo T. Pasawa, Trade and Industry city director, said confidence
of investors in the city has not waned, even as locators in the business process outsourcing industry continue talks with property developers.
“There has been no report of potential investors suspending their
plan to locate in the city,” Pasawa said, adding that established investors have continued operating normally.
Col. Oscar T. Lactao, commander of Task Force Davao, said his command has raised the alert in the wake of bombings in Cotabato City, Iligan City and Jolo, Sulu. “We need to be vigilant,” Lactao said, even as he allayed fears about the possible inclusion of the city in the list of those cities facing threats of terrorist attacks.
He said based on military intelligence, only one cell of the supposed Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist organization whose top leaders are Indonesians recruiting members in the city, was operating in the Davao Region last year.
However, only one among the five members of the group remains at large after three others have been arrested while one was killed in Pantukan, Compostela Valley. He said the military has also intensified its intelligence gathering to preempt any terror attempt against the city.
Lactao’s command was created in 2003 when two powerful explosions in the city’s airport and wharf resulted in the death of 38 people and injuries to about 20 others. The explosions took place a month apart.
The heightening of the alert level came about after a government official, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said military intelligence units reported that the explosions were the handiwork of Jemaah Islamiyah members who had just finished their bomb-making training somewhere in Central Mindanao.
But Lactao did not want to confirm the report, adding “Let us just accept the report because I am not in a position to confirm or deny it.”
0 Comments
Oldest