The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) caught the Florida-based Cesar Sayoc, who allegedly sent at least 14 bombs to Democrats, including former president Barack Obama and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton.
In a radio interview aired over dzIQ, Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said there was no need for President Rodrigo Duterte to order heightened security to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to address potential terrorist threats.
“The president has a standing order to the troops to do what they have to do with respect to the security problems of the country,” Panelo said after Armed Forces Chief Carlito Galvez, Jr warned that what happened in the US may also happen in the country.
In a statement also yesterday, Panelo said the Palace was “not perturbed” with the security of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“The Presidential Security Group (PSG) is doing a fine job. Apart from the mantle of protection being in place, the president is absolutely not bothered by any attempt against his life nor will it distract his focus on fulfilling his mandate by — and the directive of — the Constitution to protect and serve the Filipino people with integrity, dedication, and fidelity,” Panelo said. Panelo also said that the president “could not care less” about Sayoc’s Filipino roots, saying terrorists “know no race or ethnicity.”
“(The terrorists) could be of any nationality or a descendant of any nationality. With motions reported as clandestine, they are often faceless and unseen. One thing, however, defines them: They are evil and capable of terrible deeds,” Panelo said.
“Unmindful of the nation where they belong, the perverted causes they espouse is the very cause of terrorism,” Panelo said.
He also asked all Filipinos to be vigilant amid terror attacks worldwide.