With the security status on full alert, all persons and vehicles entering the airport compound will be subjected to rigid inspection in an effort to thwart any terrorist attack.

The heightened security status was a result of the memorandum from the Department of Transportation and Communication’s Transportation Security Office informing airport authorities of intelligence reports that the Abu Sayaff Group and the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) were planning to hit both government and private institutions in Davao, Cebu, and Manila.

In a memorandum issued by TSO director Sr. Supt. Artemio Gabriel to PNP -Aviation Security Group chief Brig. Gen. Andres Caro, he said they have gathered intelligence reports that combined elements from the Rajah Solaiman Group, Abu Sayyaf, JI, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will conduct coordinated bombing attacks in different parts of Indonesia and the Philippines to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the US.

The memorandum specified that the country’s premier airport is included in the list of potential targets.

As a result, Caro, in close coordination with airport general manager Alfonso Cusi, upgraded the security status to full and ordered the deployment of additional security personnel in all entry points at the airport and its facilities.

Cusi suspended the issuance of visitor’s passes to the terminal and limited entry only to those with prior security clearances.

Departing passengers were advised to go to the airport at least four hours before their flights to avoid possible delays.