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MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines has been ranked as the 8th terror capital in the world by a UK global risk advisory company.
Based on the annual Terrorism Risk Index (TRI) for the year 2010-11 which was developed by Maplecroft, aside from the Philippines, 15 other countries were rated as “extreme risk” from terrorist attacks: Somalia (1), Pakistan (2), Iraq (3), Afghanistan (4), Palestinian Occupied Territory (5), Colombia (6), Thailand (7),Yemen (9) and Russia (10) at the bottom of the ranking.
According to Maplecroft, they developed the TRI to enable organizations to identify and monitor terrorism risks to human security and international assets.
The index uses data from June 2009 to June 2010 to assess the frequency of terrorist incidents and the intensity of attacks, which includes the number of victims per attack and the chances of mass casualties occurring.
It also includes a historical component assessing the number of attacks between 2007 and 2009 and looks at whether a country is at risk from a long-standing militant group operating there.
Last year, the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, one after the other, warned of looming terrorist attack in the country, particularly in Metro Manila.
Their advisories discouraged their citizens from going to public areas like shopping malls and airports, saying these are potential targets.
Traveling is also strongly discouraged in most parts of Mindanao, particularly in the Sulu archipelago, the stronghold of Muslim extremist groups, responsible for the country’s worst terror attacks.
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By: Roy C. Mabasa
Source: Manila Bulletin, Aug. 4, 2011
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