NEWLY-INSTALLED Police Regional Office-Cordillera Chief Superintendent Rolando Nana called on residents of Baguio City and the Cordillera Region to be vigilant in intelligence gathering particularly on new faces in their communities which might be members of terrorist groups.
During his first day of visitation to schools in Baguio City, Nana stressed the need for the community of a strong intelligence gathering network particularly in the different communities where there are new visitors.
“We have seen the picture at NCRPO (National Capital Region Police Office) and compared to Baguio City and the Cordillera region, we are just lucky because we still maintain a very peaceful environment. The approach here is collaboration between the PNP, the military, local chief executives, and primarily the members of the community because if there would be any terrorists that would come in, they will go directly to the community to reside and conduct their activities there,” said Nana in reaction to an earlier statement on reports of the alleged presence of terror “sleeper cells” in the city by Philippine Army Chief Lieutenant General Rolando Bautista.
Sleeper cells are a group of people (sleepers) who inconspicuously remain dormant in a community until activated, by a prearranged signal, to perform acts of espionage, sabotage, and/or terrorism.
Bautista bared this allegation during the book launch of “Marawi and Beyond: The Joint Task Force Marawi Story” held in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.
Bautista stated the alleged discovery during the Marawi campaign of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria “sleeper cells” not only in Mindanao, but also in Luzon and Visayas with Luzon having in Baguio, Dagupan, Tarlac, Pangasinan while in the Visayas, they have in Samar, Cebu, and so forth.
“The Barangay officials should widen their intelligence networking within the level of their community. Same is true with the law enforcement agencies who must intensify their intelligence efforts because that is where it starts. We must not fail to receive information and activities which starts from a visitor,” Nana stated.
Baguio City Mayor and Regional Peace and Order Council Chairman Mauricio Domogan have identified terrorism as the primary issue which will be tackled during the RPOC 2nd quarter meeting this month in Ifugao province.