Palace assures safety of diplomats amidst anti-US attacks
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Malacañang assured the safety of the Embassy of the United States and its diplomats serving in the country in the midst of continuous anti-US attacks around the globe.
According to GMA News Online, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte guaranteed that the US officials are safe in the country and they need not flee.
“Of course envoys and US Embassy personnel in the Philippines don’t need to flee,” she said in an interview, “There’s no such danger against them in Manila and the Philippines. The government can guarantee the safety of the US Embassy.”
The Star has reported that the Philippine National Police have already heightened their presence outside the US Embassy in Manila and that the embassy officials themselves have increased their own security following the directive of US President Barack Obama to all their embassies abroad.
Valte also noted that the behavior of the Muslim communities should not cause alarm to the US embassy.
“Our [Muslim brothers] behave with civility and sobriety and goodwill,” she said.
Activists in Muslim cities conducted anti-US protests against the American-produced amateur film “Innocence of Muslim” shown on YouTube which depicted the prophet Muhammad as a womanizer.
Muslims considered the movie blasphemous and started targeting symbols of US influence like embassies, schools and fast food chains, according to ABS-CBN News.
The rocket attack against the embassy in Benghazi, which caused the death of US Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and three other embassy staff, is considered one of the most violent acts triggered by the controversial film.
The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack and said that it was "a serious violation of longstanding norms of international law with deep historical roots that diplomatic and consular agents are not to be harmed and that the diplomatic and consular premises are inviolable."
The activists have reportedly not ended their protests. A SITE Intelligence Group reported on Saturday that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called for more violence against US diplomatic missions in the Middle East and Africa, and urged Muslims in the West to attack US interests.
Meanwhile, Valte said the government is unlikely to request Google to restrict the access of Filipinos to the controversial film on Google-owned video sharing site.
Valte said in a statement that she does not see the anti-Islam video affecting the consciousness of Muslims in the country.
She also added that numerous YouTube videos may be considered offensive by some sectors, but the government has never asked to take anything down.
“In the entire two years and odd number of months [that President Benigno Aquino III] has been in office, the administration has never asked to take down anything,” Valte said.
In Muslim countries like Indonesia, Libya, Egypt, and India, Google has already blocked access to the anti-Islamic film.
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