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[av_heading heading=’ Negros coastguards on heightened alert’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”][/av_heading]
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Saturday, May 27, 2017
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BACOLOD City – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is on heightened alert to secure Negros Occidental and this capital city from possible threats following the incursion of the Islamic State-linked Maute group in Marawi City.
It was directed to boost security measures, said Lieutenant Senior Grade Jimmy Oliver Vingno, chief of Coast Guard Station-Bacolod. “We are in close coordination with the army and the police in intelligence monitoring.”
Vingno said they were also on tight watch for vessels arriving from Mindanao. Ships docking in Negros Occidental, including Bacolod, were being strictly checked, he added.
A naval blockade has also been set up by the Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy in the coastlines of Visayas.
“Seaborne patrol and intensified surveillance on any sea vessel, particularly speedboats are being conducted,” Vingno said.
Earlier the Philippine Army’s 3rd Infantry Division (3ID), which also covers Negros Island, said it had sustained security patrol and strengthened preventive measures in the wake of atrocities of the Maute group that prompted President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law in Mindanao.
Government troops continue with security patrol operations and work with local government units, said Major General Jon Aying, commander of the 3ID based in Jamindan, Capiz.
“We have to strengthen our preventive and deterrent measures. We also need to identify possible vulnerable areas,” he said.
Aying said the Maute bandits could not possibly leave Mindanao and enter Visayas because they have “no bases and no sympathizers here.” (PNA)
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