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Sunday, June 18, 2006
Gonzales downplays terror threat in Cebu
By Mia E. Abellana
CEBU CITY -- National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales has heard of several training assassins from the New People's Army (NPA), but is not sure if all of them are in Cebu.
This was Gonzales' reaction to a police intelligence report that some 20 members of the NPA's hit squad have arrived in Cebu from Mindanao.
As for the alleged 80 terrorists that Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano claimed are now in Cebu, Gonzales admitted that he did not hear of such a report.
"Terrorists don't operate in such numbers. They operate in cells. But we will look into that. If it's true, that is very serious," he told reporters Saturday.
Nevertheless, Gonzales assured that Cebu is "very capable" of hosting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in December, as far as security is concerned.
"Cebu is very good. Don't worry," he told reporters. He admired the community spirit of Cebuanos, which he said is very important if a city wants to have a good security arrangement.
"The bad news is that Cebu is not immune to terrorism. The good news is that you are not alone," he later told students in a forum Saturday afternoon.
Task Force Asean Summit of the Philippine National Police is headed by Deputy Director General Avelino Razon, who has served as Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 head based in Cebu City.
PRO 7 Director Silverio Alarcio also has experience in counter-terrorism and observed the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur last year.
Some people have complained about President Arroyo's decision to hold the summit in Cebu instead of Manila, but Gonzales said the President chose Cebu, not because of the votes she got during the elections, but because it was a "tribute to the success of Cebu as a city."
In a forum sponsored by the University of Cebu (UC) College of Law, Gonzales told students that national security is often misunderstood as spying.
The root cause of terrorism, he said, is a conflict within the Islamic faith, wherein some sectors have their own radical version of Islam and allow the use of terror to impose their particular view.
He described terrorism as a global war that affects even the most advanced countries in the world. He told students, mostly teenagers, that the country is also a training ground for terrorists in the Southeast Asian region.
Gonzales named terrorism, communist insurgency and politics as continuing threats to national security.
The Philippines is also home to at least four terrorist groups and 26,000 sea vessels travel between Indonesia and the Philippines, both legally and illegally.
Some of these vessels anchor in Cebu.
Gonzales said he did not want the students to be scared, but explained that he wants the public to maintain a degree of caution so they can notice suspicious persons and report these to authorities.
Gonzales also experienced his first heckling Saturday, as about 13 members of a militant group stood up just as he was about to answer a question during the open forum.
Reporters did not get what the group member was yelling, but the protesters held up letters that spelled "Gonzales Murderer!" along with banners of Anakbayan and League of Filipino Students.
Just before the heckling, one of their members stood up to ask the first question. The girl commented that Gonzales was discriminating against the Muslims.
It was then that the group stood up and began to make noise, calling Gonzales names.
The university's security and organizers immediately shooed them out of the library, where the forum was held.
After that, the girl who asked the question and the rest of the members lined up outside the university to air their protests. A police car was sent to make sure no violence occurred. After the forum, the group left.
Gonzales was calm and even joked that he survived and that heckling should be made part of programs.
The incident was triggered after Gonzales said militant groups such as Bayan Muna and its affiliations were engaging in armed rebellion against the state and should be considered terrorists.
Kaira Alburo of Gabriela, who said she was invited to the forum, spoke up and said Gonzales was judging them as people advocating for an armed struggle.
Alburo said she has never held a gun or a rifle and has never seen an M16.
Gonzales allowed her to finish her piece and then said the most significant thing Alburo said was "no wonder the people are going to the mountains."
"That is the role of these organizations. They want us to be angry," he said.
However, he maintained that only the courts can decide if they are guilty of rebellion.
Aside from terrorism and insurgency, Gonzales also lamented that the reason the country has not been able to pass an anti-terrorism law is that the opposition does not want to act on it.
He explained the Malaca�ang has used the provisions the opposition initially wanted in the bill and has admitted that their version was better.
"It's their proposal but they don't want to act on it because Malaca�ang wanted an anti-terrorism law," he said. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(June 18, 2006 issue)
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