Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. warned Filipino Muslims who want to heed the call of Hamas for jihad that the government forces are vigilant for possible attacks.

"We are calling our brothers and sisters if you have any plan to join jihad you should not continue with your plan because our uniformed personnel are on the lookout," Brawner said in an interview in a forum in Manila on Wednesday

"We are vigilant for any possible attacks and I hope we will spare our country because we really need to unite together so that we would progress," he added.

Brawner said amid the war between Israel and Hamas, AFP alerted all its ground commanders and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the possible spillover of conflict in the country.

"We alerted all of our commanders, even the police, to be on alert for possible spill over of the conflict happening in Israel," he said.

However, Brawner said during his visit in Marawi City to attend the 6th anniversary celebration of the liberation of the city last week, he talked with the local executives and commanders to confirmed if they have monitored any threats related to the call of Hamas for jihad.

"When I was there I talked with the commanders and the local executives, I asked them have you heard any possible attacks due to the call of Hamas for Jihad, and they said they have not monitored any," he said.

Brawner said there were no foreign terrorists monitored in the country and there were no kidnaps for ransom by terrorists groups in Southern Mindanao in the past three years.

"That is one indicator of the success of our campaign against terrorism in the country so we are done with that lets move on," he said. Robina Asido/DMS