Gapay says attack on Maguindanao ”isolated” incident

December 4, 2020

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Gilbert Gapay said the recent attack in Maguindanao is an isolated incident and far from another siege like what happened in Marawi City.

"You know even another Marawi is highly improbable at this point in time because they have already learned their lessons of Marawi and and we can consider, what happened in Datu Piang as an isolated case and it's really far from another Marawi incident," he said.

Gapay said the attack  by the members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters against the military and police where a patrol car was burned in Datu Piang, Maguindanao around 11pm Thursday is being investigated by the Philippine National Police and AFP.

"The burning of a PNP patrol car last night at around 11 pm in Datu Piang, Maguindanao is a clear act of terror of the BIFF and whatever  is the motive behind it, we are still investigating it jointly with the PNP," he said.

Gapay said security forces, particularly the 6th Infantry Battalion troopers in the area, responded causing the withdrawal of the perpetrators.

''So this calls for renewed vigilance actually not only on the part of the security forces but for everyone," he added.

Gapay said  generally the armed capability of the BIFF (Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters) is on a decline since they are really not that strong.

''But as I've said this is terrorism we are confronting and usually they attack whenever we put our guards down or you know when our vigilance is low, said Gapay.

''That's why they are always there, you know observing and really looking for the opportune time to attack and conduct terror acts", he added.

Gapay emphasized the importance of the cooperation of the stakeholders and individuals to support the government's fight against terrorism.

"We cannot really protect inch by inch, all our area of responsibility because of limitations in terms of security forces, we do not have much number of soldiers and policemen to really guard every inch, every corner of a certain area that we monitor. That's why we are calling for cooperation, support, and collaboration with other stakeholders in really enhancing our vigilance so that we could protect communities from such terror attacks," he said.

He said the military is reviewing anti-terrorism operations.

"Rest assured that with the cooperation of the general public we could prevent the occurrence of similar act by the BIFF," he added. Robina Asido/DMS