E. Visayas cops sustain ties with Muslims to fight terrorism

TACLOBAN CITY, July 19 -- The Philippine National Police regional office here is sustaining the coordination with Muslim leaders in Eastern Visayas to prevent entry of radical Islamic terrorists in the region.

PNP Regional Director Chief Supt. Elmer Beltejar said their effort did not stop after profiling all Muslims in six provinces of the region.

“We don’t want Muslim radicals to mix with Muslim residents who are peacefully settling in the region,” Beltejar told reporters on Wednesday.

Monitoring is more intense in Borongan City and Dolores town in Eastern Samar due to high Muslim population in the area.

“We don’t treat Muslims as outright terrorist or radicalized civilians. We can always engage them and talk to their leaders to cooperate to us if there are new faces in their communities,” Beltejar said.

The official said engagement with Muslim leaders is necessary to maintain strong ties with the Muslim community and sustain information gathering.

The police initiated the profiling after the attack in Marawi City which started last May 23. More than 500 people have been killed on the ongoing siege.

Recently, National Commission on Muslim Filipino Regional Director for the Visayas Malo Manonggiring assured residents in this city that Muslims here are peace-loving people.

The city, the regional capital of Eastern Visayas, has about 20,000 Muslim residents including the Balik Islam converts, according to Manonggiring. Most of them are into trading and some are government employees. (Sarwell Q. Meniano/PNA)