MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) – Philippine military has denied and answered the speculated reports that some Filipinos had been engaged and trained by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said today.
After Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said that he was terrified when he discovered that the ISIS recruited his constituents and are now being trained. However, the government remained unalarmed and said that the job is left to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to validate and verify the report.
"There is none. We treat information only accurate if validated and so far there are no report nor names of Filipinos that are in the Middle East fighting for ISIS," Lacierda, quoting Lieutenant Colonel Ramon Zagala, military's public information office chief.
Prior to this, the former Philippine President Fidel Ramos, a retired military general, said in an interview that some 100 Filipinos were now training with the terrorist group as their preparation for an assault.
The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement (BIFM) also said that they have formed an alliance with ISIS but totally declined the idea of sending men to Iraq and Syria.
Lacierda said AFP intelligence group had also denied any information that Filipinos are already recruited by the ISIS group.
