DU30 ‘unmoved’ by reported ISIS threat vs him – Palace
MANILA— Malacañang yesterday assured the public that “all precautions are being taken” amid reported threats of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria against President Rodrigo Duterte, who is in an official trip to India.
Duterte and other leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are in New Delhi for a special commemorative summit.
This is his first visit to India as a head of state and his first foreign trip this year.
“President Duterte will not cower to threats from ISIS nor any other terrorist groups,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.
“He has pledged to serve the Filipino people and has left the issue of his mortality to the creator,” Roque added.
A quick search would lead to a January 25 news story by New Delhi-based "news, analysis, opinion and knowledge" website The Print titled, “ISIS threat to Philippines President Duterte on Republic Day worries Indian agencies.”
Citing a “security agency source,” ThePrint reported that Duterte —who had been vocal about destroying ISIS influence in parts of Mindanao — was “coming with baggage,” adding that the dreaded terrorist group from Middle East had "mobilized its people and is planning to strike.”
“An intelligence alert that the President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is on the radar of the Islamic State is giving security agencies sleepless nights,” the report said.
Citing unnamed security sources, ThePrint, said ISIS had mobilized sleeper cells based in Indonesia and were “planning a strike.”
Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who also attended the Republic Day parade, was also a possible target, the news website added.
But according to Roque, Duterte “is unmoved by this latest threat.”
“The president will be unrelenting in his fight against violent extremism,” the presidential spokesman said.