“We have neutralized the Abu Sayyaf in Bohol”, the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 director said on Thursday urging the Boholanos to live normal lives.

Chief Supt. Noli Taliño even encouraged the residents to celebrate their fiestas next month.

The police feel that Bohol is safe because of the presence of security forces in the province and the vigilance of the Boholanos, he said.

Bohol’s 47 towns and one city, Tagbilaran City, including the different villages in the province, will celebrate their fiestas from May 1 to 31.

Tagbilaran City celebrates on May 1, which falls on Labor Day and the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker.

But Taliño said the Boholanos should continue their vigilance in case of retaliatory attacks from the Abu Sayyaf.

As this developed, Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto and Provincial Tourism Council chairman lawyer Lucas Nuñag released an advisory on Thursday declaring Bohol “totally safe to visit.”

“This is to inform the general public that the province of Bohol especially the tourism zones remains to be very peaceful and free from threats coming from the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) whose attempt to mount terror activities were all aborted by the military and the police with the full cooperation of the various LGU’s,” the advisory partly reads.

Government troops clashed twice with suspected Abu Sayyaf Gan (ASG) members in Bohol, one in Sitio Ilaya, Barangay Napo, Inabanga town on April 11, and another in Barangay Bacani in neighboring Clarin town on April 22.

The clashes resulted in the death of nine suspected ASG members, including two sub-leaders, three soldiers and a policeman. (EB/PNA)