RP FACES NUMEROUS THREATS FROM TERRORISM - US
WASHINGTON, MAY 2, 2008 (STAR) By Jose Katigbak STAR Washington bureau – The Philippines continues to face numerous threats from terrorism, the US State Department said in a report.In its Country Reports on Terrorism 2007 released on Wednesday, the State Department said Filipino security forces scored numerous successes against terrorists but were unable to eliminate their safe havens in Sulu and central Mindanao.
Monitoring remote locations among the thousands of islands in the Sulawesi Sea and Sulu Archipelago that span the boundaries between Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines was extremely difficult and made this tri-border area ideal for such terrorist activities as movement of personnel, equipment, and funds, the report said.
It said the US Embassy in Manila has received excellent cooperation from Filipino law enforcement officials in obtaining access to terrorist detainees and their criminal, immigration, financial, and biographic records.
Operating within the country are the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), New People’s Army (NPA), and the Indonesian-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), all of which are designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) by the US. In addition, the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) and the Pentagon Gang are on the US Terrorist Exclusion List.
The country reports chapter on East Asia and the Pacific was preceded by a statement made by President Arroyo in July 23, 2007: “We fight terrorism. It threatens our sovereign, democratic, compassionate and decent way of life. Therefore, in the fight against lawless violence, we must uphold these values. It is never right and always wrong to fight terror with terror.”
The report said Philippine security forces captured and arrested 38 Abu Sayyaf members and killed 127 last year.
The release by the ASG in October of an Internet video soliciting funds was an indication of the group’s financial constraints, it said.
The report said the State Department in total has paid out $10 million through its Rewards for Justice Program to informants who have provided information leading to the arrest or killing of 13 ASG members.
It described as a major step forward the country’s Human Security Act which permits wiretapping of members of designated terrorist groups and financial investigations of individuals connected to such organizations but said tight restrictions in the law have prevented HSA from being used in actual cases.
In December, the report said, U.S prosecutors and agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation provided training to 34 representatives of the Philippine Anti-Terrorism Council. The training was aimed at assisting the Philippines in HSA implementation, especially through electronic surveillance of potential terror organizations.
The State Department also cited the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for issuing digitized, machine-readable passports.
“While the Philippines cooperated with USG requests for prosecuting persons who had tampered with or altered travel documents, the prosecutions carried low-level penalties,” the report said
“In addition, law enforcement officials were reluctant to investigate or charge vendors or users of false documents when the Philippine government was not the issuing authority,” the report said. – with Pia Lee Brago
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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