MANILA, Philippines - Attempts by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) to recruit followers from the Philippines should not be ignored, Muntinlupa City Rep. Rodolfo Biazon said during a press conference.
Biazon said that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, former President Fidel Ramos and the American Intelligence sector confirmed that the attempts were true.
The lawmaker proposed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation form an intelligence task force to investigate the reports and coordinate with the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
"We cannot ignore these reports. We have to remember the history of the Abu Sayaff... And they were together with Osama Bin Laden with the Al Qaeda fighting the Russians. When the Afghan War was finished in 1989, those Filipinos who joined the war against Afghanistan imbued with the fundamentalism of the Al Qaeda came back to this country," Biazon said, adding that the group is still giving the government problems.
Biazon has two main concerns on the ISIS recruitment of Filipinos - its effect on the peace process between the government and Moro International Liberation Front (MILF) and the problems that possible ISIS recruits will give not only to the Philippine government, but also the Bangsamoro government when it sets place in the future.
"Kaya nga importante na madinig natin ang pananaw... ng ating Muslim brothers who are in the mainstream of society Mindanao," Biazon said.
Muslim nations such as Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain were the first countries to join the United State's fight against ISIS.
Biazon said that like these countries, Filipino Muslims should realize that "the ISIS is not the kind of Islamism that is acceptable not only to the world but specifically to the Islamic countries."
In able to stop ISIS recruitment among Filipinos, the Muslim population should explain to the youth, who are most vulnerable to the attraction of being recruited, the consequences of the said movement.
The Philippine government is currently discussing with the United States on how the latter can assist with the fight against ISIS.
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