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RP anti-terror cases weak – US


By JOSE KATIGBAK

STAR Washington Bureau

The Philippine Star

Although the Philippines has made significant successes in its anti-terrorism campaign, the United States has yet to see strong cases against terrorists because of major evidentiary and procedural obstacles, according to the US State Department.

The US government also sees a need for the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to be given more power.

In its 2006 annual country report on terrorism, the State Department said the government’s counterterrorism efforts should be built on strong cases against terrorist leaders.

"Despite some successes, major evidentiary and procedural obstacles in the Philippines continued to hinder the building of effective terrorism cases," the report said.

"A large and growing case backlog and the absence of consistent trials against terrorists were impediments to the prosecution of suspected terrorists."

The State Department also cited in the report the delay in the implementation of the machine-readable passport and visa project since 2001 by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

"Despite plans dating back to 2001, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs had yet to introduce a digitized, machine-readable passport," the report said.

In April 2006, the US government had raised serious concern over the failure of the Philippines to implement the long-overdue digitized machine-readable passport program that would help prevent the entry of suspected terrorists into the country.

While the Philippines cooperated with the US government’s requests for prosecution of persons who had tampered or altered travel documents, the State Department noted that the prosecutions carried low-level penalties for those convicted of passport fraud.

Under current Philippine law, the suspect must present the fraudulent document to a Philippine government authority in order for a crime to have been committed," the report said.

"There was reluctance to investigate or charge vendors or users of false documents," the report added.

The DFA is set to implement the long-delayed Machine Readable Passport and Visa (MRPV) program in July.

The MRPV project would make the Philippines at par with the standards of First World countries that issue the same biometric passports.

It would also bear the latest technology that could allow the scanning of all information about the passport holder.

The MRPV has stringent security features in compliance with the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

The report also highlighted the successful operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, like the launching of "Operation Ultimatum," a concerted effort to capture or kill the top Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) terrorists on Jolo Island in July last year.

"Philippine forces recently eliminated both Khadaffy Janjalani, the nominal leader of the Abu Sayyaf Group, and ASG spokesperson, Abu Solaiman. Operation Ultimatum is one feature of a US-assisted strategy to strengthen the rule of law in the Sulu archipelago," the report said.

The operation has been highly successful to date as a number of ASG and JI members have been captured or killed since its inception, the report added.

The Abu Sayyaf and the New People’s Army remain in the US list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTO).

Joint US-Philippines military exercises known as "Balikatan" supported the Philippine government’s campaign to separate terrorists from the general population and diminish support for their cause.

Another successful counter-terrorism effort cited by the State Department in the annual report is the arrest, capture and killing of 88 suspected terrorists by the Antiterrorism Task Force and the seizure of over 900 kilograms of explosive materials.

"Philippine authorities also made some progress in tracking, blocking, and seizing terrorists’ assets," the report said.

The Philippines experienced 93 bombings, ranging from improvised explosive devices and grenades to landmines, including:

• In February, the bombing of a karaoke bar located near a Philippine military base in Jolo left one dead and 22 injured.

• In March, a bomb exploded at the Sulu Consumers Cooperative in Jolo killing nine people and injuring 20.

• In June, a roadside bombing in Shariff Aguak killed three people and injured eight.

• In August, two bombs exploded almost simultaneously in Kidapawan City injuring three people.

• In September, a bomb exploded at a public market in General Santos City killing two people and injuring six.

• In October, a bomb exploded near the headquarters of the Sulu Philippine National Police in Jolo injuring two persons.

• In a separate October attack, three bombs exploded in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat; Makilala, North Cotabato; and Cotabato City killing eight people and injuring over 30.

The State Department expressed serious concern over the slow judicial process that hinders the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) in freezing assets of suspected terrorists.

Under current law, the AMLC cannot take direct action against suspected terrorists or those supporting terrorism, but must apply for a court order to inquire into bank accounts and direct the freezing of assets and transactions.

The AMLC sometimes needed several months to issue the relevant resolution to the Court of Appeals after receiving information about a newly listed terrorist entity and circulating it to the financial institutions.

The AMLC has 91 cases pending in various stages with the courts, including 34 for money laundering, 24 for civil forfeiture, and the rest pertaining to freeze orders and bank inquiries.

"The slow judicial process hindered efforts by the AMLC to see these cases through to conclusion; a trial can take up to seven years to complete," the report said.

The AMLC was empowered by the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2001 (AMLA), as amended in 2003, to investigate and prosecute money laundering.

It is the lead agency responsible for implementing the asset freeze measures called for by the UN Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee.

The report said that a bilateral US-Philippines Security Engagement Board (SEB) was inaugurated in April last year to address non-traditional security issues, including counterterrorism and maritime security.

The SEB set the stage for the "Kapit Bisig" (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) counterterrorism framework that focused on civil affairs, capability upgrades, and support for AFP operations.

The US also assisted the Philippines in establishing an inter-agency intelligence fusion center in Zamboanga City to support both maritime interdictions against transnational criminal/terrorist organizations, and the "coast watch" system in Mindanao, established with Australian assistance.

The State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2006 was submitted in compliance with a mandate from the US Congress to provide a full and complete annual report on terrorism for countries and groups meeting the criteria of the Act.

Evacuees await relief

In Jolo, thousands of evacuees, displaced by the fighting, have been waiting for relief and appeared to starve as supplies of relief assistance have been delayed in the absence of a distribution system and coordination, officials said.

The Sulu Area Coordinating Center (ACC) reported the number of displaced civilians has risen to 61,292 people from at least 10 towns.

Sulu ACC executive officer Chester Amilasan said more than half of the total displaced civilians have been reached out to and served with relief goods.

Amilasan said relief distribution has been hampered because there are areas that cannot be accessed due to security problems.

The military said clearance must be secured "just automatically" because they also expressed concern over the safety of the relief workers.

"We are not just dealing here with the separatist rebels but the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf who do not recognize any rules of engagement," the military said.

The Red Cross, being a neutral body, has always refused military security as policy, the military said.

The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) also expressed the same concern of securing clearance, which also hampered the fast-tracking of the relief distribution.

Aveen Acuña-Gulo, WFP program assistant, said they have 3,000 sacks of rice but have served so far 5,400 citing that there are other areas they cannot just penetrate due to the security problem.

The UN WFP has intended 4,000 sacks of rice, which came from India, for distribution for the evacuees in Sulu alone, she added.

Reports said many politicians have placed labels espousing their candidacy in relief bags during their distribution.

However, Acuña-Gulo said they have a mechanism to prevent politicians from taking advantage of the distribution of relief goods.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross has reported some of the displaced children have started to suffer from malnutrition while some are experiencing various ailments.

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