Electronic interruptions during APEC

Following the horrific terror attacks in Paris, local authorities are now on red alert with security measures tightened even more considering all the high value targets who are in town for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, especially during the leaders’ meeting scheduled on Nov. 18 and 19. Malls have also followed suit with sniffing dogs going around the premises, while security personnel have become noticeably more vigilant as they search the bags of those going inside their establishments.

Telecom companies have likewise issued bulletins telling subscribers to expect cellphone and Internet signals to be intermittently interrupted for the duration of the APEC conference. More likely than not, a slowdown in Internet connections and signal interruptions will be highly noticeable in the areas where the delegation of US President Barack Obama will be present as high-tech surveillance and monitoring will be ongoing within the perimeter to monitor the flow of “chatter.”

Despite the temporary inconvenience this may cause Metro Manila residents, many see this as necessary to ensure that nothing untoward happens to the delegates and heads of state. If one will remember, the same signal interruptions also happened during the visit of Pope Francis earlier in January with Filipinos taking it all in stride because they did not want to compromise the security of the Pope or subject the Philippines to a major embarrassment before the global stage.

Darkness in the City of Light

A pall of gloom hovers above the “City of Light” as people the world over mourn with the French who have just been subjected to the worst terror attack ever been seen in Europe in the last decade. Not surprisingly, the financial market has reacted with the drop of the euro, and US and Asian indexes also ????. According to analysts, investors are adopting a wait-and-see attitude on high-risk sectors, with travel and tourism likely to be affected.

The government of Francois Hollande has vowed a “merciless response” to the simultaneous attacks staged in Paris by the terrorist group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) that has resulted in the death of 129 people as of this writing — sending warplanes that bombed the ISIS caliphate’s headquarters in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

ISIS has also claimed responsibility for the bombings in Beirut and the downing of a Russian plane in Egypt – and this latest display of barbarism by Islamic militants could prove to be a game changer as far as the global war on terror is concerned.

At the G-20 summit in Turkey, US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin were huddled for over 30 minutes as they discussed the horrific attacks — temporarily putting aside “strategic” and “tactical” differences in the way they have responded to the situation in Syria.

While members of the intelligence community are trying to piece together the puzzle on how the militants were able to stage the orchestrated attacks that escaped the notice of authorities in a heavily policed city, this could result in suspicion and even racial profiling against Muslim and Arabs.  In the whole of Europe, France has the biggest Muslim population, according to reports.

During my recent conversation with Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev at his embassy residence a day before the attacks happened, he told me that one of the major concerns is the danger of “demonizing Arabs and Muslims in general in the eyes of world public opinion.”

“At a time when Europe is agitated with an unprecedented influx of refugees, we risk facing a rise of xenophobia and anti-Islamic sentiments,” he said.

Despite allegations that the Russian policy on Syria is not supported by majority of countries, the highest level meetings at the 70th UN General Assembly in New York has shown that many actually support Moscow, the Ambassador said. This “ISIS ‘caliphate’ will never recognize international law, state borders and values of modern civilization that seem inviolable to us. Neither Russia, nor European nations ,nor countries of other continents can be safe from this [ISIS] threat,” he stressed.

There have been accusations that Islamic terrorism in the form of ISIS emerged due to the Kremlin’s reported “insistence” to keep Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in power, and that the air strikes conducted by Russia was directed against the adversaries of the Syrian president – allegations that Ambassador Khovaev refuted as “unfounded,” pointing out that ISIS has declared war against Russia a long time ago and that removing al-Assad is not likely to curb the appetite of the militants to sow terror.

“Russia’s air operations in Syria are targeted exclusively at the elimination of terrorists – (even) those who cannot be called anything other than terrorists, armed barbarians infamous for executing prisoners, (engaging in) human trafficking, drug trafficking, shelling residential areas, preaching cultural and religious genocide. All of them are terrorists for us – no matter what flag they carry,” the Ambassador strongly asserted, reiterating that the international community should join a broad anti-terrorist front that will closely coordinate and work together against ISIS and prevent the Syrian crisis from escalating.

Many would likely agree with the perspective of Ambassador Khovaev that regardless of the flag they carry or the ideology they espouse, these individuals and groups who carry out violent attacks especially against “soft targets” – places frequented by innocent civilians – should be treated like terrorists and as such, deserve a “merciless response” to put an end to their atrocities. 

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