GMA to convene peace and order summit

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina Jr. will preside over the first Peace and Order Summit to be held at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City on April 18.

The summit will be convened by President Arroyo.

Lina told The STAR yesterday the Aquino administration is determined to eradicate kidnapping and intensify the fight against drugs and illegal gambling.

Participants in the summit will include representatives from the five pillars of the criminal justice system:

• Law enforcers led by officials of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police.

• Prosecutors led by officials of the Department of Justice and the National Bureau of Investigation.

• The judiciary led by officials of the Supreme Court.

• The penal system led by officials of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.

• The citizenry led by officials of various anti-crime watchdogs.

Also attending the summit are officials of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force headed by its commander, Director Hermogenes Ebdane, and the Anti-Crime Task Force of the Armed Forces.

Mrs. Arroyo has asked National Security Adviser Roilo Golez and retired Lt. Gen. Eduardo Ermita, presidential adviser on the peace process, to take part in the summit.

Last March 23, Mrs. Arroyo called on Filipino-Chinese businessmen to help the government in the fight against all forms of criminality, particularly kidnapping.

Speaking before the 23rd biennial conference of the Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Mrs. Arroyo said: "I ask you to take the lead in this Peace and Order Summit, to lend your prestige and expertise, so that criminals in our midst will be exposed and hounded." – Marichu Villanueva