Manila: The Philippine government said it has tightened measures for Filipinos destined for conflict areas in the Middle East amid information that some of them are joining militants in Syria and Iraq.

“The Bureau of Immigration is on alert when it comes to those who are supposedly either going to Iraq, to Syria, or to other transit points,” Abigail Valte, deputy presidential spokesperson, said on Saturday in a radio interview by government-run dzRB.

Reports have said that some Filipino Muslims responded to calls for solidarity and participation in conflicts in certain countries, and now there are renewed calls for such action as fighting intensifies in Syria and Iraq.

Valte said the palace would ask the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to confirm reports of Filipinos aiding Islamists in their fight in the Middle East.

In the same breath, she clarified that while the DFA has a role in this matter, it will be the job of the immigration bureau to ensure that no Filipinos will be involved in such fights for their own safety.

It had been reported by Felizardo Serapio Jr, chief of the Law Enforcement and Security Integration Office of the Philippine Centre for Transnational Crime, that there was a noticeable increase in the number of Filipinos heading for Iraq and Syria to take part in the struggle of the group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil).

Serapio, in his report to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, said nearly 200 Filipinos have already joined Isil.

A separate, unconfirmed report said two Filipinos have already died.

Most of these Filipino fighters are sons of former members of the Abu Sayyaf and Moro National Liberation Front.

Security officials said Filipinos joining the conflict in Syria and Iraq pose a serious danger to the country’s peace as some who had undergone training in the Middle East under Isil could return and use what they learned abroad to engage in threatening activities in the Philippines.

It can be recalled that late last month, the Philippines deported Robert Edward “Musa” Ceratonio, an Australian citizen accused of extremist activity.

Ceratonio, 29, spent several days in Cebu, Central Philippines, prior to being deported to Australia.