The Philippines has officially adopted a strategy to prevent and counter violent extremism as officials seek to avoid a repeat of one of the country's most prominent acts of terrorism in recent history, the May 2017 siege of Marawi City by pro-Islamic State fighters.
Philippine National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon said Wednesday that the government's Anti-Terrorism Council has approved the National Action Plan on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism (NAP PCVE), with the Department of the Interior and Local Government tasked to lead its implementation.
"We have to take care of our population, especially in some areas, so that there will no longer be terrorists in the future," Esperon said in a forum organized by the government in the lead-up to President Rodrigo Duterte's fourth State of the Nation Address on Monday.