Asia-Pacific

Philippines braces for possible retaliation

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-02 16:51

MANILA - The Philippines is one with the rest of the world in rejoicing the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who was reported to have been killed in Pakistan in a US- led military operation on Sunday.

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While considered a major blow against terrorists, the country's police and military forces however said on Monday that they will remain vigilant to any possible retaliatory attack from Osama's sympathizers.

"The death of Osama bin Laden marks a signal defeat for the forces of extremism and terrorism. It represents the end of the efforts of one man to stoke the fires of sectarian hatred and to promote terrorism on a scale unprecedented in the history of mass murder," Philippine President Benigno Aquino III said in a statement.

The news came a decade after suicide bombers attacked the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, where almost 3,000 people were killed, among them Filipinos. Aquino said the latest development on the war against terrorism is not just an achievement for the United States but has likewise brought justice to over a dozen Filipinos who lost their lives during the 9/11 attack.

"The death of Osama bin Laden should not lull us into complacency. The world must continue to consistently and courageously raise its collective voice against religious hatred, political intolerance, and terrorism of all kinds," Aquino said.

The president added that the government will continue to take all relevant precautions and steps to ensure the safety of the Filipinos.

With Osama now gone, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it has become more optimistic that it is now a step closer to putting an end to the activities of local terrorists, among which is the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf and its Jemaah Islamiyah cohorts.

The 380-strong Abu Sayyaf group, founded in the early 1990s by Islamic extremists, is notorious for kidnappings, bombings and even beheadings in Southern Philippines over the past decade.

"This is a huge blow to the terrorists. The Philippine National Police and the AFP will work together to prevent any sympathy or retaliatory attacks in the Philippines," PNP Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said separately.

Cruz, however, said there is no need to raise the alert level of the PNP yet.