Cayetano urges OFWs to be vigilant in wake of terrorist attacks abroad

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano (File photo by BULLIT MARQUEZ /AP)

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano on Wednesday called on Filipinos overseas to be more vigilant in the wake of terrorist attacks abroad.

Cayetano issued the warning after Russian authorities foiled a planned terrorist attack in Moscow and after a shooting incident killed 17 in Burkina Faso.

“We want our kababayans wherever they are abroad to always remain vigilant and to always be prepared because these senseless acts of violence can happen anywhere and when we least expect them,” Cayetano said in a statement.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it had monitored other small-scale attacks that took place in various parts of the world, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, in the past few days.

Quoting a report from Ambassador Carlos Sorreta of the Philippine Embassy in Moscow, the DFA said Russian intelligence was able to prevent Islamic militants from carrying out a series of terrorist attacks in the country. The plot reportedly included two suicide attacks.

In Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, Islamic militants opened fire at a restaurant frequented by expatriates, killing 17 people there.

Citing data from the Global Terrorism Database, the DFA said around 1,102 terror incidents took place worldwide from January to August 2017, while 1,204 attacks were perpetrated during the same period in 2016. A total of 1,820 terrorist incidents took place from January to December 2016.

Cayetano sent his sympathies to the families of the victims of the August 13 attack in Burkina Faso.

“We mourn with the families of those who lost their lives in this terrible incident in Burkina Faso,” he said. /atm