‘Cebu City, Province safe from terror threats’
TWO high-ranking police officials assured the public that Cebu City and Cebu Province are safe and there are no threats from terrorist groups.
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria and Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Eric Noble made the announcement after unidentified men threw a grenade into a group of bystanders at the public plaza of Iligan City last Wednesday night.
Four persons were injured in the incident.
No comment
Supt. Surki Sereñas, Police Regional Office Northern Mindanao spokesperson, declined to say if the grenade-throwing is connected to the fighting between government troops and the Maute terror group in Butig town, Lanao del Sur.
The group, the subject of continuous military operations in the past weeks, has issued threats to bomb major cities in the country.
The group earlier claimed responsibility for the Davao city bombing this year.
For their part, Doria and Noble said they are still on full alert and tight secu- rity is in place at seaports, terminals of public utility vehicles, malls and other places where the public flock. Noble said Cebu Province is also safe. CCPO and CPPO are in close coordination with the Muslim communities in Cebu City.
Doria and Noble urged the public to be vigilant and report to the nearest police stations any suspicious-looking person or object.
Iligan City
In the Iligan City grenade-throwing incident, police identified the injured as Laureto Carabantes Alla, Jr., 26, Purok 5, Santiago, Iligan City; Cristine Perocho Mercaderos, 20, student of MSU-IIT, resident of Sitio Curvada, Barangay Maria Cristina, Iligan City; Cherryl Matugas Paquit, 26, a resident of Caugmaran, Barangay Suarez, Iligan City; and Shielamae Asibal Maagad, 23, Actub St., Poblacion, Iligan City.
The incident came after the operatives of Criminal Investigation and Detection Group seized explosives from the house of the Maute terror group matriach in Marawi City last Sunday.