PHILIPPINE National Police (PNP) acting chief LtGen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has ordered strict monitoring and intensified intelligence-gathering to help deter terrorism-related recruitment and training in Mindanao.
Nartatez said they are constantly coordinating with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the country’s intelligence community. He said strict monitoring is regularly done to preempt terrorists’ plans.
“We treat all the information we receive seriously. And while there are already significant gains in improving peace, order, and development in areas in Mindanao that used to be the sites of armed conflict, we continue to monitor the situation on the ground with the help of our AFP counterparts,” Nartatez said in a statement on Sunday.
A group engaged in monitoring violence and advocating peace in Mindanao has warned of alleged recruitment and training activities of Dawlah Islamiyah (DI) in the provinces of Lanao and Maguindanao following a Jan. 23 ambush in Munai, Lanao del Norte that left four soldiers dead.
Suspected members of the DI-Maute Group allegedly attacked government forces who were conducting non-combat security operations for the development of the community.
Nartatez said military and police personnel in Lanao and Maguindanao are not lowering their guard on any threat involving peace and order in the area in line with the directive of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to maintain an uncompromising stance against internal security threats and ensure the continuous stability of the Bangsamoro region.
He said strict monitoring and intervention measures have always been a part of the protocol to maintain the significant achievements of the national government in pushing for peace and development in Mindanao.
Nartatez, who once served as head of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao, also cited the importance of community involvement in peace and order efforts.
The Climate Conflict Action Asia (CCAA) earlier warned of a resurgence of violent extremism in Mindanao following the ambush that killed four government soldiers in the village of Lininding, Munai, Lanao del Norte on Jan. 23.
The CCAA said the attack, which authorities linked to Dawlah Islamiyah (DI), pointed to an escalating security threat in and around the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, despite years of counterterrorism operations and peacebuilding efforts.
The group cited data from its Critical Events Monitoring System that showed a sharp increase in violent extremist incidents, rising by 91 percent from 23 cases in 2024 to 44 in 2025. These incidents included armed encounters between DI and state forces that resulted in at least 30 deaths, the arrest of suspected financiers and drug dealers connected to extremist networks, and the recovery of high-powered firearms and explosives such as M16 rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and improvised explosive devices.
The CCAA said it had observed sustained recruitment activity over the past two years, with indications that extremist groups were re-establishing a presence in parts of Lanao and Maguindanao and re-appearing in areas previously declared free of Islamic State-linked groups.
