Immigration Commissioner Rufus Rodriguez alerted yesterday intelligence agents in the country's four international airports against suspected international terrorists coming here to help destabilize the government.
Rodriguez issued the alert order as he confirmed that an Iranian national who was prevented from entering the country last April 9 was a member of a Middle East-based terrorist group.
The suspect, identified as Vafakishi Homaee, 39, tried to pass himself off as an ordinary tourist, but was intercepted by alert immigration agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
Rodriguez said Homaee's name was in the International Police's updated list of suspected terrorists.
Homaee, who reportedly arrived with only a small backpack and $100 pocket money for a two-week stay in the country, was summarily deported on the same day he arrived in Manila on board a Gulf Air flight from Frankfurt, Germany.
Found in his possession were maps of Mindanao and Metro Manila highlighting locations of American facilities, oil depots and shopping malls indicating emergency exits and power supply lines.
The apprehension of Homaee was particularly significant in the light of threats by the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to bring the war to Metro Manila.
This prompted Rodriguez to direct immigration intelligence agents to be on the lookout for nationals from radical Muslim states whose main itinerary is Mindanao.
It was noted that most of the Middle East nationals coming here on tourist visas listed in their disembarkation cards Mindanao as their main destination, raising strong suspicions that they had other purposes than just sightseeing.
The intelligence agents said a number of the arriving Middle East nationals were usually fetched at the NAIA and taken directly to Mindanao.
American authorities from the US Embassy in Manila have reportedly asked for more information about Homaee.
Meanwhile, security at the NAIA Terminal I and II was tightened following last Friday's bomb threat against a Philippine Airlines flight bound for Zamboanga City.
Aviation Security Group chief Gen. Enrique Galang said security was doubled in all the country's airports, especially at the NAIA, amid intelligence reports about planned terrorist attacks on the NAIA.
"We are not taking these threats lightly," Galang said.