With the focus on China, the terrorist threat in the Philippines has been put on the back burner.
ISIS threat to Philippine security
Videos showing a few Muslims in the Philippines expressing allegiance to ISIS with the use of the Black Flag demonstrate that ISIS threat to Philippine security is real rather than imagined
After Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is posing a serious threat to Philippine security.
Otherwise known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, now recently called by its followers as Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, ISIS, thus far, is the most violent extremist jihadist armed group operating predominantly in Iraq and Syria. But ISIS has a delusion to expand its operations in the Muslim world not only in the Middle East and North Africa but also in Muslim areas stretching from Europe to Asia.
The Philippines is not spared the ISIS threat because it has self-proclaimed followers among Muslim Filipinos or Moros who just performed a Bay-ah or pledge of allegiance to ISIS founder, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. (READ: Australian ISIS supporter nabbed in Cebu)
On June 29, 2014, Baghdadi proclaimed himself as the overall leader or a Caliph of a so-called independent ISIS Caliphate. ISIS followers call this Caliphate as Al-Dawlah Al-Islamiyah Fi Al-Iraq Wa-Al Sham.
In May 2014, Muslims in the Philippines, who called themselves part of the Ansar Dawlah Fi Filibbin, posted a video showing a few men in white dress performing a Bay-ah to Baghdadi.
In Islamic parlance, a Bay-ah is an oath of allegiance to a Muslim leader. It is practiced in the Muslim world to recognize the establishment of a new caliphate or Islamic monarchy. In some places, Muslims performed the Bay-ah to “sell” themselves to a spiritual leader as a quid pro quo for physical protection, financial support, or spiritual assistance.
The May 2014 video was filmed a month before Baghdadi proclaimed an independent ISIS Caliphate. Titled “Filipina Support for ISIS and Bay-at to Shaikh Abu Bakar Al Baghdady (Hafidzahullah),” the video displayed a few men speaking in Arabic to express their support for and loyalty to ISIS and its leader Baghdadi. In the latter part of the video, these men spoke in Filipino, reiterating their allegiance to ISIS and submission to Baghdadi.
(Continued at the link below)
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