Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Wednesday said the reported foiled entry attempt of the Hamas militant group into the Philippines should serve as a warning that they are trying to find safe havens and expand their terroristic activities.
Teodoro said he had yet to see an infiltration attempt by Hamas extremists in the country.
“I haven’t seen any, but maybe that serves as a warning that there was an attempt before, and there may be a spill-off,” Teodoro said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum.
He added: “Because, naturally, as they are driven away from their strongholds, they are trying to seek safe haven elsewhere and try to regroup, try to spread the strife, particularly in Islamic communities.”
Discussing the possible infiltration of the extremist group in the country, Teodoro sees that Islamic communities are “really tired” of conflict.
“It’s quite fragmented, as we know, so the best thing to do really is to remain resilient among fellow Filipinos and to find common ground where we can agree, respecting the religious views of each and everyone and respecting their freedom of speech,” he said.
“We have this basic freedom of speech, religion, the freedom to practice what they want to believe, and tolerance,” he added.
Teodoro said, “Tolerance is built on mutual education as to what the other believes in, so there are boundaries which we do not cross to be religiously and politically correct.”
The National Security Council earlier reported that Philippine intelligence units had halted Hamas operatives who had tried to coordinate with the country’s local extremists to expand their operations here.