MANILA -- Terror alert level 3 was raised nationwide after the arrest of two suspected terrorists allegedly behind the foiled bombing attempt near the United States Embassy in Manila last Monday, November 28.
In a press conference in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Thursday, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said that the alert level 3 or "full alert status" means there is a stricter implementation of security measures, especially on the conduct of random checkpoints, increase intelligence activities, and other law enforcement operations.
Dela Rosa also advised the public to be alert, vigilant, and observant, but not to panic.
The PNP chief said the public has nothing to be worried about even if the terror alert level 3 is raised nationwide, because he issued directives to the regional police directors to intensify security measures in highly-urbanized cities.
Dela Rosa made the statement after the PNP presented to media on Thursday two of the five suspects in the attempted bombing in the embassy.
The two suspects were identified as Rayson "Rashid" Kilala Sakdal and Jiaher Guinar.
Dela Rosa said Rashid, who is a returnee to the Islamic faith and a religious preacher in Bulacan, was the one who placed the improvised explosive device (IED) inside a trash bin, while Guinar was assigned as the trigger man.
Rashid admitted that their first target was Luneta Park but they were "bothered by their conscience" and instead planted the IED near the US Embassy.
The suspects' three accomplices transported the IED from Central Mindanao to Metro Manila, Dela Rosa said.
He said the two suspects are members of the Ansar Khalifa terror group, which has direct links with the Maute terror group that is now the center of military operations in Butig, Lanao del Sur.
The PNP is now hunting down the three accomplices of Rasid and Guinar who are believed to have returned to Marawi City, Lanao del Sur.
'No disruption in normal life'
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar assured the Filipino people that they will still have a "normal life" amid the announcement that the Philippines is now under terror alert level 3 since the alert is consistent with the declaration of state of national emergency declared by President Rodrigo Duterte after the Davao bombing last September.
"We assure the public that there will be no disruption in their normal lives even if we have raised our security level in the same vein that there was no change in the way they live, work, or conduct business now that the country is under state of national emergency on the account of lawless violence," Andanar said.
Andanar said that there will be no change in the way the people "live, work, or conduct business."
The purpose of implementing the alert level three is to put the whole police force in extreme alert against terrorists who might commit similar acts of planting bombs in Metro Manila. (Sunnex/With PNA)