Arroyo to urge Japan to take wider security role in Asia
Arroyo to urge Japan to take wider security role in Asia
MANILA (Agencies): Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo left on Wednesday for a visit to Japan, saying her country is in good hands a day after terrorist attacks on the United States shook the world.
Arroyo said on Wednesday that during her four-day visit to Japan she will ask the Japanese to take a wider security role in Asia following the terrorist attacks in the United States.
"The Philippines supports wider collective responsibility in security for Japan in the region," Arroyo said before departing for Tokyo. "This is one message that I will bring to Japan especially with what is happening in the world today."
Arroyo said she initially considered canceling her trip to Japan following Tuesday's terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, but decided against it.
"But if we allow terror to paralyze us, to disrupt our work and disturb our lives, we shall have yielded to the intent of its perpetrators," she said. "I assure all Filipinos and all our friends here in the country that every precaution has been taken to ensure the safety of our society and our institutions at this dark hour."
She also said her government will help in the effort "to crush blind fanaticism and heartless violence."
Arroyo will hold talks with Emperor Akihito and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.
She said she will express support for "wider collective responsibility and security for Japan in the region."
She said Japan and China have emerged as the most powerful nations in the region and the Philippines and others in the region have a stake "in ensuring that Japan-China relationship exerts a beneficial influence on the region's economic and political stability."
Japan is the Philippines' biggest source of official development assistance and its second-largest trading and investment partner.
Arroyo will also address the Global Business Dialogue on Electronic Commerce and a meeting of the Philippines-Japan joint economic cooperation committee.
Japan will be the fourth country visited by Arroyo since she took office Jan. 20 after her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was forced to step down amid massive anti-corruption protests.
Separatist
In a further development, twelve Muslim separatist guerrillas were killed and at least 17 others wounded in fresh clashes with soldiers in the southern Philippines, the military's southern command said here on Wednesday.
Clashes in the towns of Datu Piang and Mamasapano in Maguindanao province began on Saturday when soldiers encountered some 60 heavily armed separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas, the military said.
Soldiers in nearby Lanao del Sur province about the same time also encountered some 30 MILF guerrillas who had refused to acknowledge a ceasefire recently forged between Manila and their leaders, it said.
The army pounded rebel positions with rounds of artillery and gunfire from attack helicopters sent to the area.
The fresh hostilities came just days after MILF leaders had agreed to pull out of positions in Maguindanao province to avoid further encounters that could imperil ongoing peace talks.
The 12,500-strong MILF had earlier signed a truce with Manila, but has also accused the military of provoking hostilities by encroaching on areas where it maintains a presence.
The MILF is the Philippines' largest remaining Muslim insurgent group and has waged a 23-year war for the establishment of an independent Islamic state in the south.
Meanwhile, the head of military forces fighting Muslim extremist guerrillas in the southern Philippines is being replaced, military chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva said on Wednesday.
The military is being investigated by Congress for failing to capture or destroy the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and their leaders who were cornered in a hospital in with their hostages on June 2.