US warns citizens vs Sulu, Mindanao visits

Citing threats of kidnapping and terrorism, the United States government issued a new travel advisory over the weekend, warning citizens not to go to Sulu and Mindanao. In its new travel advisory dated Saturday, the US Embassy said the threat in Mindanao is such that US government employees must seek permission for travel to Mindanao or Sulu. “Many people who reside in or visit areas that face terrorist threats, such as in Mindanao, travel with their own security force, avoid an obvious presence, or both. In some areas of the Philippines, especially in Mindanao, visitors should avoid travel at night outside metropolitan areas," it said in its advisory. "US Government employees must seek special permission for travel to Mindanao or the Sulu Archipelago. When traveling in Mindanao, U.S. official travelers attempt to lower their profile, limit their length of stay, and exercise extreme caution," the advisory added. Also, it said US citizens contemplating travel to the Philippines should carefully consider the risks to their safety and security while there, including those due to terrorism. It advised them to “exercise extreme caution" in both central and western Mindanao as well as in the Sulu Archipelago. The US advisory said kidnap-for-ransom gangs continue to operate in the Philippines, abducting two US children last January their home in Tagum City, Davao Del Norte. On the other hand, it cited the threat of the New People’s Army (NPA), which it described as “another terrorist organization" that operates in many rural areas of the Philippines. “While it has not targeted westerners in several years, the NPA could threaten US citizens engaged in business or property management activities, and it often demands ‘revolutionary taxes,’" it said. The US advisory likewise warned against terrorist groups, such as the Abu Sayyaf Group and the Jemaah Islamiyah, and groups that have broken away from the more mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) or Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). Such groups, it said, have carried out bombings resulting in deaths, injuries and property damage, and recent incidents have occurred in urbanized areas in Mindanao. Meanwhile, in an interview on dzBB radio Sunday, PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao Jr questioned in particular the advisory’s information regarding the abduction of two US children last January. Citing initial reports reaching him, Pagdilao said the PNP head office in Camp Crame has not received any such report of US children being abducted last January. “Itatanong natin sa Region 11 ang circumstances (We’ll have to ask our PNP Region 11 about the circumstances)," Pagdilao said. - GMANews.TV