Shielding Visayas from terrorists

Gen. Eduardo Año, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief, said Tuesday soldiers have taken control of about 70 percent of Marawi City, where Maute terrorists have been fending off the army for a week.

At least 65 militants, 15 government troops and 19 civilians have been killed in the week-long siege of Marawi City, Año said. Buildings in Marawi City were torched.

Cebu and the Visayas are far from Marawi, but what happened in Marawi shouldn’t be allowed to happen in the Visayas.

While government troops are trying to contain the Maute terrorists in Marawi, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Mike Dino is “circling the wagons” to shield the Visayas from terrorists and other lawless elements.

Dino met with officials of different government agencies Tuesday to pave the way for forming the Visayan Sea Safety and Security Inter-Agency Task Force.

No, it’s not the S.H.I.E.L.D., the fictional espionage, special law-enforcement and counter-terrorism agency we read in comic books and see in the movies.

Cebu and the Visayas are vulnerable to incursions as shown by the entry of Abu Sayyaf bandits in Inabanga, Bohol last month. The task force, Dino said, will pre-empt the entry of terrorists in Visayan seas and coasts.

“We should not allow a repeat of the Bohol incident. We should not wait for another local terrorist group from coming over and sowing fears to the Visayan people and wreaking havoc to our beloved Visayas. We have to act now,” Dino said.

Perhaps, with Dino around, history will not repeat itself.

Dino said the task force will also prevent the violence and armed conflict in Marawi City from spilling over the Visayas area.

That’s the reason we need the task force to shield the Visayas from terrorists and lawless elements.

But the local Muslim community should also do its share in denying potential terrorists any ground with which to breed.