|
Thursday, March 06, 2003
Nat'l ID system pushed in wake of bombing
By Joshua Dancel
MANILA -- From criticizing the failure of intelligence, pushing for implementation of the national identification system, to urgently demanding the resignation of the defense chief, senators took turns hitting the government Wednesday for the bomb attack in Davao that claimed 23 lives.
Senators Robert Barbers and Rodolfo Biazon both agreed the intelligence network of the military and police has again failed the people.
They condemned the failure of the police and military to anticipate the explosion at the Davao International Airport despite the huge budget allocated for the government's intelligence fund.
"Evidently there has been a failure of intelligence here," Barbers said.
Biazon, meanwhile, said this intelligence negligence was a product of the "miscalculations" of the military and its leaders concerning the war they are waging in Mindanao.
Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda said it is high time the Senate, now that the budget is being deliberated, to review the confidential fund in view of the intelligence community's poor performance.
In line with this, Senator Aquilino Pimentel urged military and police forces to tighten up security around three other Mindanao airports.
Senator Ramon Magsaysay said he would personally urge President Arroyo to immediately implement a national ID system in order to weed out terrorists operating under the cloak of anonymity.
"This may be unpopular but this is a necessity. We are now speaking of our welfare here," Magsaysay said.
But if there is anyone to blame for the incident, Pimentel said it would have to be Reyes. "I blame Secretary Reyes for his miscalculations," he said.
Biazon agreed with Pimentel and even warned the President to distance herself from Reyes.
"If the man of the President fails, she fails too. If he will sink, then both of them will sink. Let her decide on the fate of Reyes," he said.
But Senator John Henry Osmeña was more aggressive and demanded the head of Reyes.
He said the Davao bombing was nothing but a plot hatched by Reyes and his United States counterparts so that US forces would be allowed to engage in actual combat against the Abu Sayyaf.
The senator added Reyes wanted more funds for his department and "for his ambition to run in 2004 or launch a military coup." Sunnex Luzon |
|
|
|
 |
| click
to comment on this article or discuss it with other readers |
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
NPAs burn 4 buses of D’ Rough Riders