🔗 Share this article

It was the scariest experience of his life. In 2016, Gerry Pendon was a mere five metres away from a bomb explosion at the night market in Roxas in Davao City. The ISIS strike left 15 dead, including his brother-in-law. A five-month siege between the military and the extremist group in the city of Marawi followed.

“It won’t take place again in Davao,” Pendon says.

Nine years later, the specter of IS reappears over one of the country's major cities, amid worldwide focus over the 28-day stay in the city of the suspected Bondi attackers, a father and son, Sajid and Naveed Akram.

Pendon, who is a a massage technician at the night market, learned of the Bondi incident on the television, but like other residents interviewed, felt largely disconnected.

Even the 2016 blast is a bad memory he is working to forget. A remembrance marker for the 2016 deaths is placed in a section of the night market, seeming mismatched amid the celebratory mood as crowds came there for food, massages and goods.

Active Probes Amid Festive Cheer

Investigations into the visit to the country of the pair is happening while the overwhelmingly Catholic country is preparing for Christmas. Davao’s municipal hall has been decorated with a tall Christmas tree, shopping centers are busy, and children knock on doors to sing carols.

“I was surprised to see [the Akrams] in the news. But they were here for tourism, not violence,” says Emelyn Lorenzo, another a massage therapist at the market. Officials have made clear the probe into their actions is active and the true reason for their visit is as yet uncertain.

“It is simply unfortunate that valid issues are co-opted by extremism. Unfortunately, the story of extreme conflict was incorrectly tied to the island's identity,” stated Karlos Manlupig, executive director of non-governmental organization Balay Mindanao.

Trust in Policing History

Lorenzo is additionally certain that nobody could carry out another act of terror in the city for a long time ruled by the political machine of past leader Rodrigo Duterte, whose legacy – both renowned and notorious – was built on heavily policing Davao through hardline anti-crime and drug war initiatives. At one entrance of the night market, at least four personnel stand checking bags.

The Philippine government has pushed back against allegations that it was a hub for extremists for the accused Bondi shooters. The country has a extensive past of instability and marginalisation that has seen some Muslim separatist groups form alliances with overseas extremist organizations. But while IS-linked groups persist, authorities say they are small and degraded.

Police Trace Movements

What is certain, stated Eduardo Año, the Philippines’ national security adviser, is the two did not leave the city nor obtained combat training in the country, as was previously alleged.

Law enforcement have said they are “treating with gravity” the pair’s stay in the country as they reconstruct the activities of the father and son during their month-long stay in Davao City.

Investigators say there are numerous places the two could have visited or connected with associates in the neighborhood. Dozens of businesses sit between the their accommodation and a local popular fast food chain, where they were known to buy their food.

Detectives are reviewing surveillance tapes and tracking taxi trips to establish their movements, and that any potential lead are being explored.

Concerns in Marawi City Over Bias

In Marawi, the site of intense fighting with extremist groups in 2017, locals are concerned that new associations with terrorism could lead to tighter restrictions and increase discrimination against Muslims.

Tirmizy Abdullah, a professor at the university in Marawi City, said the Philippine intelligence community must determine what happened.

“[The Akrams’] visit should be properly investigated and the intel should provide accurate and honest answers without converting questions into accusations against the region or its people,” he said.

Manlupig lauded civic actions in improving the safety conditions in Davao City but he said “this doesn’t mean that radicalism magically vanished”. He said the country must address economic and social issues and governance challenges that motivate the reasons behind the conflict while “persist in promoting tolerance and steer clear of bias and division”.