Development of a Monitoring and Visualization Tool for Acts of terrorism in Mindanao, Philippines

Abstract

Terrorism poses a significant threat to security, and the need for an accurate monitoring visualization tool is essential for effective counterterrorism. However, the unavailability of such a customized tool is still a challenge in Mindanao, Philippines. Therefore, a terrorism visualization tool was developed in this study, covering the years 1975 to 2017. The methodology involved intensive data collection from the Global Terrorism Database and other reliable sources and featured the design development of a visualization tool in the form of a dashboard using Python. Also, regions with high terrorism activities along with major perpetrators have been presented. Findings indicate that Maguindanao yields the highest death frequency, with New People's Army (NPA) as the leading perpetrator as verified by the spatial map projection and overall preliminary prediction. In conclusion, with proper data management and feature selection, the developed tool is found to be highly viable and sufficient for decision-making.