🔗 Share this article

This was the scariest moment of his life. During September 2016, Gerry Pendon was a mere five meters away from a blast at the night market in Roxas in Davao City. The ISIS assault claimed 15 lives, including his wife's brother. A lengthy battle between the military and the militant group in the city of Marawi ensued.

“It won’t happen again in Davao,” Pendon asserts.

Years later, the threat of IS once more hangs over one of the country's key cities, amid worldwide focus over the four-week stay in the city of the accused Bondi beach shooters, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed.

Pendon, who makes a living as a massage therapist at the night market, saw news of the Bondi incident on the media, but as with other citizens surveyed, felt predominantly detached.

The 2016 attack is a painful recollection he is attempting to put behind him. A remembrance marker for the 2016 fatalities sits in a section of the night market, looking mismatched against the festive environment as hundreds flocked there for meals, massages and trinkets.

Active Probes Amid Festive Preparations

Examinations of the time in the Philippines of the pair coincides with the predominantly Catholic nation is preparing for Christmas. Davao’s government center has been decorated with a large Christmas tree, malls are busy, and children knock on doors to perform Christmas songs.

“I was taken aback to see [the Akrams] in the news. But they were here for tourism, not extremism,” says Emelyn Lorenzo, also a massage therapist at the market. The government have stated the inquiry into their actions is active and the precise reason for their stay is remains unclear.

“It is just regrettable that valid issues are exploited by extremism. Regrettably, the reputation of extreme conflict was incorrectly tied to the region's image,” said Karlos Manlupig, executive director of advocacy group Balay Mindanao.

Trust in Policing Legacy

Lorenzo is also certain that nobody could execute another act of terror in the city historically governed by the political machine of past leader Rodrigo Duterte, whose name – both notable and controversial – was built on aggressively securitising Davao through hardline anti-crime and drug war campaigns. At an entrance of the night market, at minimum four guards stand searching bags.

The authorities has pushed back against allegations that it was a hub for extremists for the suspected Bondi shooters. The country has a complicated background of instability and marginalisation that has seen some Muslim separatist groups forge ties with overseas extremist organizations. But while IS-linked groups remain present, security officials say they are small and degraded.

Authorities Trace Whereabouts

What is evident, said Eduardo Año, the Philippines’ national security adviser, is the two did not leave the city nor received military-style training in the country, as was initially suggested.

Police have said they are “treating with gravity” the pair’s visit in the country as they piece together the actions of the suspects during their four-week stay in Davao City.

Investigators say there are several places the two could have visited or had meetings in the area. Many of businesses sit between the their accommodation and a nearby popular fast food chain, where they were reported to buy their food.

Detectives are examining surveillance tapes and following cab rides to piece together their whereabouts, and that every scenario are being explored.

Worries in the Region Over Labels

In Marawi, the site of a major conflict with IS-linked militants in 2017, inhabitants are worried that fresh associations with terrorism could lead to tighter restrictions and increase bias against Muslims.

Tirmizy Abdullah, a academic at the Mindanao State University in Marawi City, said the Philippine investigative bodies must determine what took place.

“[The Akrams’] time here should be thoroughly examined and the information should provide accurate and honest answers without transforming doubt into accusations against Mindanao or its people,” Andullah said.

Manlupig praised civic actions in enhancing the security situation in Davao City but he said “this doesn’t mean that extremism magically vanished”. He said the country must tackle socioeconomic factors and governance challenges that drive the motivations behind the conflict while “persist in promoting acceptance and avoid discrimination and polarization”.