PNP Chief Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa urged the people to not panic following the attack at Resorts World Manila in Pasay City on Friday midnight.
He said that the attack in the casino is not related to terrorism, because no one got hurt by the attack and the suspect only destroyed the gambling area in the second floor of the building.
Bato said that they can’t attribute the incident to terrorism until there’s no evidence gathered.
“Sa ating mamamayan, wag po kayong mag-panic. This is not a cause for alarm. Alerto lang tayo” PNP Chief Ronald Bato Dela Rosa said.
According to the authorities,only one suspect identified. The masked suspect is foreign looking, light skinned, about six foot tall, possibly a gambler who lost his sanity because for losing big amount of money in gambling.
Bato also said that the suspect searched for money, but he only got a pack of green gambling chips worth P1-M.
“Puwedeng robbery ito, dahil pera ang hinahanap, nagnakaw siya ng mga chips [gambling chips].” He said.
He also said that the Islamic State claimed the attack in the Casino because of propaganda and to grab the attention of the world.
“ISIS can claim what they want because of propaganda,” Dela Rosa said.
Bato said that the suspect didn’t hurt the guests of the Casino, but only destroyed the TVs and other things inside the gambling room. The suspect also stole the chips.
“As of now, we cannot claim this is a terror attack, why? kasi wala siyang ginawang violence, wala siyang sinaktan,” he said.
There are no confirmed reports of gunshot wounds, only injuries from the people who ran for their safety.
The PNP Director General said that there’s a high possibility that the suspect who still at large, would be arrested by the authorities.
“Kung hindi siya lumabas sa building, mahuhuli ‘yan, sa dami ng tropa nating nakapalibot huli yan,” he said.
Bato also said that the management of Resorts World didn’t informed the authorities earlier about the situation inside the building and they tried to handle the situation without the help of the police.
Dela Rosa declared that the situation inside the Resorts World Manila building is closing to normal because all rooms are already cleared.
Additional PNP-Special Action Forces (SAF) personnel have arrived at Resorts World Manila to arrest the suspect.
