Philippines tightens borders to keep out militants
Philippines tightens borders to keep out militants
Manny Mogato Reuters Manila
The Philippines is tightening its porous southern maritime borders with Malaysia and Indonesia with plans for two radar systems aimed at choking a flow of militants and weapons, a military official said on Tuesday.
The southern Philippines, home to four homegrown rebel groups seeking a separate Islamic state, is widely suspected of being a training ground for regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI).
"We're plugging that hole," Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, the military's vice chief of staff, told Reuters. "These areas remained unmonitored for a long time."
Garcia said the defense department would open bidding in two weeks for the two surface radar systems. The contract should be awarded by May and the equipment in place by November, he added.
Manila's plan came as U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft was due to join officials from Asia-Pacific nations on the Indonesian island of Bali to discuss ways of enhancing security cooperation.
Garcia, who chairs the military's modernization board, said 60 million pesos (US$1.1 million) had been earmarked for the radar systems that will be set up on two islands east of the Malaysian state of Sabah and north of Indonesia's Kalimantan province.
He said the equipment would be able to monitor small wooden boats, such as the swift outriggers used by Abu Sayyaf rebels.
In April 2000, Abu Sayyaf, a Moro extremist group linked by Washington and Manila to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network, seized 21 hostages, including 10 Western tourists, from a Malaysian resort in Sipadan.
The long maritime borders between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia are also used to smuggle weapons, drugs and other contraband, Garcia said.
The Philippines has also proposed an exercise among troops from the three nations deployed in the border areas, beginning with a planning meeting next month on the southern island of Mindanao.
The security measures, Garcia said, are part of Manila's commitment under a May 2002 counter-terrorism agreement with Malaysia and Indonesia.