AFP welcomes US tag of ISIS in PH, Maute Group as SDGTs
MANILA --
The United States decision to designate ISIS Philippines and the Maute Group as
"Specially Designated Global Terrorists" (SDGTs) will greatly assist
the Philippines in its ongoing anti-terrorism campaign.
This
was emphasized by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brig. Gen.
Bienvenido Datuin in a message Wednesday.
"Such
declaration from foreign countries will of course invariably help us in many
ways in our fight against local terrorists and their foreign cohorts. Specific
advantage on such declaration/list is the checking of money trail, financial
sources, logistics lines and conduits of terror groups in foreign countries
that may have connections with local violent extremists," he added.
Earlier,
the US State Department has designated the ISIS Philippines, ISIS West Africa
and ISIS Bangladesh as "SDGTs" under Section 1 (b) of Executive Order
13224 as "Foreign Terrorist Organizations" pursuant to Section 219 of
the Immigration and Nationality Act.
Also
tagged as "SDGTs" are ISIS-Somalia, Jund al-Khilafah-Tunisia,
ISIS-Egypt, and the Maute Group.
With
this development, American nationals or citizens are prohibited from
transacting with the above-mentioned groups while their properties or holdings
in the US are blocked.
Also,
Datuin said that such declaration falls within the right of the US as well as
every government in the world to distinguish such groups as may be provided by
the law in a particular country. His views were shared by Department of
National Defense (DND) spokesperson Arsenio Andolong.
"The
inclusion of the Maute Group and ISIS Philippines in the US list of foreign
terrorist organizations is an affirmation of what Philippine authorities
already know - that the Maute Group and the Dawlah-Islamiya are terrorist
groups that need to be dealt with decisively using the full force of the
law," he added.
With
this development, these terror organizations will be denied access to the US
financial system and will face sanctions as may be deemed appropriate, making
it more difficult for them to conduct their activities in the Philippines and
abroad, Andolong stressed.
(PNA)
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