Manila, Philippines – The Philippine government officially denied on Wednesday reports that its territory was being used as a training base for terrorists. This denial came in the wake of new details emerging about the perpetrators of the deadly attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia.
Official and definitive response
In a statement issued by the National Security Council, presidential spokesperson Claire Castro confirmed that there was no evidence to support these claims. She said:
“No evidence has been presented to support the claims that the country was used to train terrorists. There is no credible report or confirmation that the individuals involved in the Bunday Beach incident received any form of training in the Philippines.”
Details of the perpetrators’ movements
This denial comes a day after Manila’s immigration department released travel records belonging to the perpetrators (a man and his son) who carried out one of the deadliest mass shootings in Australian history.
The data showed that the two men spent almost the entire month of November in the Philippines.
Reports indicate they are on a southern island known for its militant activity. The father entered the country using an Indian passport, while the son entered as an Australian citizen.
Context of the incident
These developments raise security questions about the nature of the activities the pair carried out while in the southern Philippines. Philippine authorities maintain that there is currently no concrete evidence linking their stay to “terrorist training.”
