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Sunday, August 13, 2006
Gov't bans liquids on all flights
MANILA -- The government has banned hand carried liquids and gels on all domestic and international flights, expanding security measures following a foiled plot to blow up US-bound airliners from Britain with liquid explosives, a police official said Saturday.
The ban previously covered only flights to the United States.
The Office of Transportation Security ordered a "general application" of the security measure for all flights Friday and airport security officials started implementing it Saturday, said Chief Superintendent Andres Caro, head of the police Aviation Security Group.
"The passengers are still adjusting," Caro said, adding that flight schedules have not been affected by tighter security checks.
He said passengers were being told about the ban at the airline counter, allowing them to transfer items into their check-in luggage.
Items banned from onboard include beverages, shampoo, suntan lotion, creams, toothpaste, hair gel and "other items of similar consistency."
Baby drinks, including infant formula, breast milk and fruit juice, as well as insulin and other "essential nonprescription medicine" will be allowed, Caro said.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered security officials Friday to convene the government's Anti-Terrorism Task Force to discuss how to "intensify intelligence activities" against terrorist attacks and heighten security in all airports, seaports and other transport terminals.
Arroyo, in her speech before the 10th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council in Cebu said terrorist threats could not be dealt with single-handedly.
She said every country and international institution must work together if they are determined to successfully address and eliminate the terror threats.
Arroyo called for a convention on counter-terrorism by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in December, which she said, would "advance teamwork in the fight against evil."
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, head of the task force, said the security measures were intended to thwart any "grand design by terrorists, specially those identified with al-Qaida" as the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in the United States draws near.
A plot to bomb US-bound aircraft was earlier hatched in Manila in 1995 by Ramzi Yousef -- the convicted mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Yousef also was convicted of killing a Japanese passenger with a liquid bomb on a Philippines Airlines jet in 1994 that US prosecutors called a test run.
That plot to bomb US airlines over the Pacific was uncovered following a fire in January 1995 in a Manila apartment Yousef had shared with another man, who was later arrested. Yousef fled to Pakistan where he was arrested a month later.
"Because of this experience that we had (with Yousef), we are closely monitoring all the activities of suspects, especially those coming from the outside, who could repeat what happened in 1994-1995," Ermita said.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye expressed confidence that the terrorist threat would be contained and defeated with strong community alertness and regional and global cooperation.
Bunye said the price of peace and freedom is eternal vigilance.
"Our vigilance at the operational and community levels is high and sustained while our global links in stamping out this menace are working. We are pursuing relentlessly our fight against terrorism in the local front, mopping up terrorist camps, curtailing their mobility and communications and stopping their fund transfers," he said.
"Security and intelligence agencies are tracking terror cells round-the-clock, and with strong community vigilance and strong regional and global partnerships, this threat will be contained and defeated," he added. (AP/JMR/Sunnex)
(August 13, 2006 issue)
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