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Friday, February 18, 2005
Arroyo to certify anti-terror bill as urgent
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Thursday said she will certify as urgent the passage of the anti-terrorism bill in order give more teeth to the country's campaign against terror.
The urgent need for the measure came following Monday's bomb blasts in the cities of Makati, Davao and General Santos that killed seven people and injured over a hundred others.
Police arrested Thursday a person tagged as an accomplice of the people who bombed a passenger bus as it was cruising the busy Edsa highway in Makati City. Three people were killed and at least 50 others were injured in the incident in Makati.
"Most certainly, yes, that's very important. In fact, we've been concentrating on economic reforms which is why we haven't been talking about it but it is part of our priority legislation," Arroyo said, on the need for the immediate passage of an anti-terror bill.
She said "it doesn't matter whose version (it is)," adding she will leave the details of the bill for Congress to thresh out in the same way that she asked for P80 billion in revenue measures and left legislators to pass the laws.
Arroyo also said there is no need to ask help from the US in going after the bombers because there is a "continuing cooperation" with Washington on anti-terrorist activities.
She urged delegates to the 13th National Convention of the Provincial Board Members League of the Philippines (PBMLP) to work out a provincial ID system while government has not yet worked out one on the national level.
"One of tools of terrorist is anonymity and mobility," she said, adding that a provincial ID would deprive terrorists of this tool.
"There must be a first line of defense and you, the board members, are our first line of defense," she added.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, also the presidential spokesman, rejected proposals by lawmakers to give Arroyo emergency powers in order to solve the bombings in Mindanao and Makati.
On the military offensive in Jolo, which is believed to have prompted the Valentine's Day blasts, Arroyo ordered government troops not to relent in the manhunt for the perpetrators.
"The enemy is being routed in Sulu and I commend our government forces. The dragnet is closing in on the perpetrators of the recent bombings in Metro Manila and Mindanao and I order our law enforcers not to ease the pace of the hunt down," Arroyo said in a media interaction at the Lapu-Lapu City Hall in Cebu.
Hundreds of residents affected by the ongoing fighting on the island of Jolo in Sulu sought shelter Thursday to avoid being hit in the crossfire, officials said.
Five main evacuation centers have been set up, although most of the more than 25,000 people who have fled homes over the past several days are staying with relatives and friends, said Maydelyn Malli Badjin, a social welfare officer for Sulu province.
Arroyo vowed that peace and development will be restored and relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts stepped up in the affected areas.
Badjin said the exodus of civilians continued despite the military's capture of the rebel training camp.
"People are just leaving their homes for their own safety," even if there is no fighting in their communities, she said. "Here on Jolo, when people see soldiers coming, they just leave the place."
A military cargo plane delivered relief supplies to Jolo on Thursday.
A government team left by boat for Parang town with enough food for 540 households--about 2,700 people--for three days.
Arroyo promised to continue adding teeth to the fight against terrorism by strengthening the country's internal security laws. She said legal and operational measures will also be maximized to keep the terrorists at bay.
"We must match the resolve of other nations on these score as terrorists take advantage of loopholes in the legal system that allow them anonymity and mobility," she said.
An accomplice of the Makati bus bombers surrendered to authorities Thursday, police said.
Police officials in Camp Crame did not identify him but that he was undergoing tactical interrogation.
They said though the man was one of those who helped create the bomb in a place somewhere in Caloocan City but it was not clear if he was one of the two passengers who planted the bomb that exploded inside the bus.
The man admitted to police investigators he and his companions bought the spare parts in a Muslim area in Quezon City and subsequently made it into bomb in Caloocan City.
He said he gave himself up because his conscience was bothered by what he did. He also promised to cooperate with the police for the immediate arrest of the two bombers.
The bombers used trinitrotoluene or TNT type of bomb, based on the police investigation, which was done with the help of the Australian Federal Police, said Southern Police District Director Wilfredo Garcia.
Garcia said the suspects also used a cellular phone as a triggering device.
He said the material may have been smuggled into the country since TNT is a strictly-controlled chemical and only commercial mining companies are allowed to use it after getting the required permit from the PNP's Firearms and Explosives Division.
As a result of the blasts, Metro Manila mayors are pushing for a national identification (ID) system to help deter further terrorist acts.
In a security briefing, local chief executives, police, and military officials also agreed to form Task Force NCR, which will look into the Makati bus bombing, conduct follow-up operations, and pursue the bombers.
Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes, barangay chairmen, and business sectors participated in the meeting.
Reyes said it would be easy to prevent any terrorist attack if the ID system is implemented.
"With the ID system, you could exercise your rights faster, without it then we could be more susceptible to terrorism, but it's just one of the solutions we are looking into," he said.
Fernando shared the DILG secretary's stand as he said the ID system is a way of "hardening the targets of terrorists" because before they enter any vital installations, they would be checked and it would be easy to trace them.
It was also agreed upon in the meeting that the police, local officials, and community would coordinate with each other in the fight against terrorism.
"It (preventing terrorism) is not only the responsibility of the AFP and PNP but also the community, we should be working hand in hand," said Reyes.
He added that if one has nothing to hide "then you have nothing to fear about the national ID system." (RB/JFF)
(February 18, 2005 issue)
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Mayors rap VAT; Arroyo woos Cebu