Tuesday, August 14, 2007 Foreign bomb experts come with war v. terror: security chief By Carlo P. Mallo
THE presence of foreign bomb experts whenever an explosion rocks the island is but a manifestation that terrorism now recognizes no boundaries.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said the presence of these foreign bomb experts is actually more of a necessity and that the people ought to understand that "we are in a time wherein the borders have ceased with the threat of terrorism."
In a recent interview, Gonzales said foreign bomb experts who are sent to Mindanao just form part of a technical team.
"We are keeping track of all the foreign bomb experts who are in the country," Gonzales said. He added that intelligence information is also being shared between cooperating countries.
Not only Americans
Gonzales said other countries also have their bomb experts in the country, and even in Mindanao.
"It is not only the United States, which has its bomb experts here, other countries as well," Gonzales said.
"We welcome international experts," Gonzales said. Although the national security adviser believes in the capacity of the Filipinos, he said it is also beneficial for the country to have bomb experts from other countries.
"They have the technical capacity to immediately identify the explosive used," Gonzales said. He added that the identification of the explosive is one of the most crucial parts of an investigation. With the identification of the explosive, according to Gonzales, the group that perpetrated the atrocity would be identified.
"We can identify if the explosive used belongs to the Jemaah Islamiyah, the communist movement, or other rogue groups," Gonzales said.
He said terrorism knows no boundaries and it has brought the world to a state wherein all must cooperate.
Gonzales also hinted that the country is considered a crucial area in the global effort to combat terrorism.
He cited the connection of the country to the various terrorist acts that were successfully staged in major countries.
"Spanish investigators even went to our country as it was found out that the bombing of the train station was actually planned here (in the Philippines)," Gonzales revealed. Some reports also indicated that the country was also used in the planning of the World Trade Center attack.
'No comment'
One of the staunchest critics of the prevalence of foreign bomb experts, particularly the Americans, is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
When asked to comment on the statement of the mayor that the presence of foreign troops and bomb experts is a "jinx" to the area, Gonzales opted not to comment.
In previous interviews, Duterte had chided the presence of foreign bomb experts, especially American experts, during bombing incidents.
Duterte considers himself to have severed ties with the American government after an alleged member of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States "accidentally" set off a bomb in his hotel room in the city and the US government, instead of helping prosecute the suspect, whisked him out of the country.
Conspiracy theory
The national security chief merely laughed off speculations that the presence of foreign bomb experts in the country is part of a conspiracy that is being brewed by highly developed countries to maintain status quo in the world order.
He said there could not be a conspiracy theory. "It's as if they are not our allies," Gonzales said.
