COTABATO EXPLOSION. Post-blast situation of Monday’s (Dec. 31) bombing at the façade of South Seas Mall in Cotabato City. (Photo courtesy of Army’s 6th ID)
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AUSTRALIA followed the United Kingdom in issuing a travel advisory for its citizens, cautioning them against travel to many parts of Mindanao in the wake of the deadly bomb attack in Cotabato City just hours before the new year.

Australia warned its citizens about the level of criminality and the threat of terrorism and kidnapping in some areas in Mindanao, including the Zamboanga Peninsula and Sulu.

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COTABATO EXPLOSION. Post-blast situation of Monday’s (Dec. 31) bombing at the façade of South Seas Mall in Cotabato City. (Photo courtesy of Army’s 6th ID)

Reads part of the Australian government’s advisory: “Reconsider your travel to eastern Mindanao and do not travel to central and western Mindanao due to very high levels of violent crime, high threats of terrorist attacks and kidnapping,” it said.

The advisory was released by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

In the advisory, the Australian government called on its citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution in the Philippines overall.”

The United Kingdom issued a similar travel advisory on western and central Mindanao, including the Sulu archipelago, for British citizens ahead of Australia “because of terrorist activity and clashes between military insurgent groups.”

The Department of National Defense quickly downplayed the travel advisory. DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong released a statement that reads in part: “This is nothing new. The government of the UK regularly issues security advisories to its subjects who are overseas. It is the mandate and responsibility of every government in the world to remind its citizens to take precautions when traveling to countries that have a presence of bandits and terrorists, whether their activities or numbers are significant or not.”

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the travel advisory was a default warning.

He said, “The British advisory is an automatic and default warning of governments to their nationals like we also do when these things happen in other countries. It is normal and ordinary. We hear about these advisories all the time.”

Earlier, UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office advised its citizens against all travel to western and central Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago because of terrorist activity and clashes between the military and insurgent groups.

The FCO also advised against all but essential travel to the remainder of Mindanao (excluding Camiguin, Dinagat and Siargao Islands) and to the south of Cebu province, up to and including the municipalities of Dalaguete and Badian, due to the threat of terrorism.

“Terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in the Philippines, including in Manila. Terrorist groups continue to plan attacks and have the capacity and the intent to carry out attacks anytime and anywhere in the country, including in places visited by foreigners, like airports, shopping malls, public transport, including the metro system, and places of worship. You should remain vigilant at all times and report anything suspicious to the local authorities,” the UK FCO added.

London issued the travel advisory, shortly after the bomb attack in Cotabato City, which killed two people and wounded over two dozen other people on Monday.

The National Police announced that the situation in Cotabato City has now normalized and that its forces are now focusing on preventing a repeat of the incident.

“As far as the PNP is concerned, everything went back to normal in Cotabato City. And the security services, the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the PNP are on top of the situation,” National Police spokesperson Chief Supt. Benigno Durana said. (with reports from PNA)

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