Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 12) – The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday called on Filipinos abroad to me more vigilant in the wake of the attempted terror attack in New York City.
“We encourage our kababayans abroad to heighten their vigilance. It is important for our kababayans wherever they are abroad to know how to respond in the event of a terror incident,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement.
A man wearing a homemade pipe bomb, identified as 27-year-old Akayed Ullah, detonated his explosive in a walkway at the Port Authority Bus Terminal near Times Square on Monday (U.S. time). He is in the custody of the police.
The attempted attack injured five people and caused chaos in one of the city’s busiest commuter hubs, New York City government officials said. The DFA said no Filipinos were injured in the foiled attack.
Cayetano said Filipinos traveling abroad for work, business, or pleasure must have the contact details of Philippine embassies and consulates in countries they are traveling to so that they can call their emergency hotlines in case of assistance.
The incident comes more than a month after a deadly terror attack in Lower Manhattan.
A man was charged with killing eight people and injuring a dozen others as he drove a pickup truck down a bicycle path near the World Trade Center on November 1. He was arrested after the truck hit a school bus, stopping it in its tracks. He exited the vehicle and an officer shot him.
The suspect, Sayfullo Habibullaevic Saipov, was indicted last month on murder and terror-related charges, the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said. Saipov pleaded not guilty to 22 federal counts.
The Halloween incident was the deadliest terror attack in New York City since the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.
