Philippines forms special task force to curb terrorism
Philippines forms special task force to curb terrorism
MANILA (AFP): The Philippine military has formed a special anti-terrorist task force following growing concern over local and foreign terrorist groups in the country, military spokesmen said yesterday.
The announcement followed a call by President Fidel Ramos, speaking on Armed Forces day, for security forces to crush terrorism and at the same time achieve full reconciliation with Moslem and communist insurgents.
The task force, to be made up of intelligence unit members, will focus mainly on foreign terrorists but would also be involved in the fight against local groups such as communist assassins, spokesmen said.
Police this week detained nine Pakistanis on suspicion of involvement with foreign terrorist groups planning attacks in Manila.
Immigration Commissioner Leandro Verceles has urged Philippine embassies to be more careful in issuing visas to foreigners, to ensure that terrorists do not slip in.
"We must unite to confront ... the threats affecting the nation's security especially the new terrorism that has spawned senseless violence in some of our communities," Ramos said in a speech for the 60th anniversary of the Philippine armed forces.
Fears over foreign terrorists heightened in January after police raided a Manila apartment that was being used as a hideout by foreign Moro fundamentalists.
Fundamentalists, including Ramzi Yussef, alleged mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, were suspected of planning to kill Pope John Paul II during his Philippines visit in January. They were also thought to be planning attacks on U.S. airlines and foreign embassies.
Foreign terrorists are also charged with the mid-air bombing of a Philippine Airlines plane in December that killed one Japanese. The bombing is believed to have been a dry-run for attacks on U.S. airlines.
Ramos, a former chief of the Philippine constabulary and a career soldier, has faced mounting pressure over a wave of violent crimes.
A prominent ethnic Chinese businessman, Leonardo Ty, his driver, a Singaporean boy and a police bodyguard were killed last week.
The killings were blamed on the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB), the urban assassination team of the communist New People's Army.
The Philippine Inquirer reported yesterday that one of the gunmen in Ty's killing had been detained by police. Police spokesmen could not be contacted to comment.
"We must turn back the tide of criminality and must upgrade our capability to repel challenges to our national security from within and without," Ramos said.
He noted that "one crucial task" of government and military was the "completion of the peace process" begun in 1992 with the communist insurgents and Moslem secessionists in the south.
He admitted that peace with the communists was "still some distance away" but noted they were "no longer a major threat to our internal security."
The government reached a settlement with rightist coup plotters in October and is continuing dialogue with the main Moslem insurgents, the Moro National Liberation Front.
While he did not refer to claims to the Spratly islands in the South China Sea, Ramos said that modernization of the poorly- equipped Philippine military would proceed.
A US$5.4 billion armed forces modernization program was ordered in February, following tensions between Manila and Beijing over China's occupation of Philippine-claimed islands in the Spratlys.
Ramos expressed hoped that by 1998 the military "can meet any threat to national security."