Monday, December 11, 2006 Nalzaro: Threat to security was the reason By Bobby Nalzaro Saksi
‘THANK God. The 12th Asean summit will push through because the typhoon was postponed. The typhoon was moved to January next year,” read one of the text messages I received yesterday after typhoon Seniang spared Metro Cebu. There may have been heavy rains in some parts of the city, but the city did not experience any gusty winds, unlike in the northern part of Samar and Leyte, which were the center of the storm.
Pag-asa people knew beforehand the strength and the direction of Seniang and that the typhoon would not directly affect Metro Cebu. The non-cancellation of flights was proof that Seniang was a weak typhoon and would not affect flights in and out of Cebu. But I don’t know why the national organizing committee of the Asean summit used the inclement weather condition to postpone the event, and that Malacañang approved it.
Even an illiterate person can theorize that the weather condition was not the main reason the summit, which was scheduled to commence today, was moved next month. Threat to security of the delegates, especially the heads of states, had something to do with the postponement. I have talked to a government official, who asked not to be identified, last Friday right after the announcement. He confirmed that threat to terrorism was the main reason behind it.
Our authorities were alarmed after the US joined Britain, New Zealand, Japan and Australia in issuing travel advisories to their citizens not to visit Cebu during the duration of the summit because of a possible terrorist attack. Interpol agents, who were already in the country, confirmed the threats.
The intelligence report said members of the Jamaah Islamiya, a cell of the dreaded al-Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden operating in Southeast Asia, and members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were in the province to carry out missions that would disrupt the summit. According to the source, the group would not directly engage in a series of bombings but would undertake another form of mission. To poison Cebu waters were part of their plan. The National Bureau of Investigation confirmed receiving such information.
The terrorists’ plan also included infiltrating the ranks of the militant and progressive groups, which were planning to stage a series of rallies. These infiltrators would then provoke authorities into violence, resulting in the throwing of bombs. Had that happened, authorities would have surely been blamed. And even if that scenario did not result in death, one explosion in the hands of a terrorist group would have shattered the image of Cebu and the entire country.
I support the postponement of the summit if threat to security was the main reason. But why did our officials lie? Are they ashamed to admit that the Philippines is the weak link in the war against terrorism in the region?
