Wednesday, January 17, 2007 Asean guards feel ‘vindicated’ By Mia E. Abellana Sun.Star Staff Reporter With Linette C. Ramos & Oscar C. Pineda
LIKENING the success of the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit to the Battle of Mactan, top police officials considered the event “historic” for the people of Cebu.
PNP Chief Oscar Calderon gave his men a “99 percent” success rating, saying he did not want to give them a perfect score because the best judge would be the public.
However, he promised to recommend for each member of the security task force to be awarded the Presidential Citation Badge for ensuring the summit’s success.
The Task Force Asean Summit began preparations as early as February last year.
Deputy Director General Antonio Billones, who headed Task Force Asean, said it began with a series of conferences and “resource generation,” including personnel and logistics.
Their first inspection of the summit venues was in March last year yet.
Chief Supt. Silverio Alarcio Jr. was also picked to head the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 last May for his experience in securing major international events, such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (Apec) in 1996 in Subic and the 112th Inter-Parliamentary Union assembly in Manila in 2005.
Volunteers
He also got the chance to observe the security arrangements for the 11th Asean Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2005.
Officials, however, also credited the success of the summit to the Cebuanos.
“Having the Cebuanos was an advantage. They went out of their way to provide support, thus making our preparations easier. Even if we lacked logistics, they volunteered,” Alarcio said, citing as examples the provision of tow trucks and K9 dogs.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) 200-strong Task Force Alalay was also deactivated yesterday after the successful closing of the summit and the departure of the last head of state.
The AFP soldiers will now be sent to Eastern Samar to fight insurgents.
In a press briefing yesterday, Alarcio also said the local government units gave unwavering support before and during the summit, and even gave allowances to field training policemen who were assigned in their areas.
He admitted that they had to make several adjustments during the summit proper, especially when a head of state decided to go out for dinner after originally deciding not to attend.
Vindicated
Calderon also said they felt “vindicated” as the summit went on without any untoward incident.
This was after some sectors speculated that terror threats, and not the typhoon, caused the postponement of the summit last month.
This was fueled by travel warnings from five countries advising their citizens not to travel to Cebu because of the terror threats.
“We have proven that Cebu is really safe. But we can’t blame those who released the advisories because they have an obligation to their citizens,” Calderon told a news conference.
He pointed out that none of the leaders were absent from the meeting and that even Australian Prime Minister John Howard, whose country advised against travel to Cebu, attended the summit.
Calderon also welcomed the Asean accord on counter-terrorism and hoped Congress would see the need to pass an anti-terrorism law.
Like President Arroyo, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is happy with the success of the 12th Asean Summit, an achievement he attributed to the public’s cooperation and sacrifice.
No nightmares
“It’s very good because my nightmares did not happen. Peace and order was very good and people were unselfish in how they helped and tolerated whatever inconvenience there was,” he told a news conference yesterday.
The Cebu City Asean Task Force has started to consolidate all accounting reports on the City Government’s expenses for the summit activities.
Task Force head Nagiel Bañacia said the City spent some P23 million for the summit preparations and activities, but the exact amount will be declared only after everything has been accounted for.
Major Gen. Cardozo Luna deactivated yesterday the “Task Force Alalay” when he visited 46 Infantry Brigade (IB) soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to thank them and to announce their transfer to Eastern Samar.
The soldiers have been staying in Minglanilla Sports Complex located inside the town’s central school since last Oct. 28. AFP’s Task Force Alalay was organized to secure the recently concluded summit.
“High morale ba kayo?” Luna asked the soldiers in formation inside the complex, minutes before he and his battalion commanders joined them in the traditional “boodle fight”, a meal displayed on banana leaves and eaten with bare hands.
“Itong accomplishment ninyo ay mas mahalaga ng maraming beses kaysa sa isang encounter (Your accomplishment is many times more important than an encounter with insurgents),” Luna told the soldiers, adding that they and their great-grandchildren will enjoy the summit’s benefits. (MEA/OCP/LCR)
