GMA reaffirms full support for anti-terrorism coalition

President Arroyo reaffirmed yesterday her unqualified support to Washington’s call for the formation of a world coalition against terrorism.

The President also said the government would soon adopt some changes in the national policy on terrorism in the light of worldwide developments following last week’s attacks on Washington and New York.

Addressing the US Congress, President George W. Bush urged allied nations to rally behind the anti-terrorist coalition.

"I support his (Bush’s) actions, but I will be making a major statement on terrorism in a few days. It will be a major policy statement," Mrs. Arroyo said.

Bush has tagged Saudi billionaire Osama bin Laden as a prime suspect in the suicide attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, leaving hundreds confirmed dead and thousands more still missing in the rubble of the collapsed buildings.

US authorities believed that members of the al Qaeda terrorist group led by Bin Laden were involved in the attacks.

National Security Adviser Roilo Golez and Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao clarified, however, that Mrs. Arroyo would not announce any major policy shifts in dealing with terrorism.

"The basic policy of the Philippines is all-out and unqualified support (to the US), but within the framework of our Constitution, laws and treaty obligations," Tiglao said.

"What the President was saying is not a shift but expansion of policy that would take into account the possible worst-case scenario like declaration of world jihad by Islamic countries in response to any US retaliation," he added.

He said unfolding events in the aftermath of the attacks and the anti-terrorist war declared by Bush would determine changes in Philippine policy on the matter.

Golez said countries have started to re-examine their respective policies in the light of the statements made by Bush.

"We, too, have to redefine our own," Golez said.

At yesterday’s press briefing at Malacañang, Mrs. Arroyo appealed to the legislators to set aside politics in view of the world crisis.

"That moratorium is more urgent than ever. The New York incident of Sept. 11 has changed the global mood. World business conditions are more uncertain now," the President said.

"We must now rely more on our own efforts, our own domestic economy. We must avoid lapsing into a sense of drift and losing momentum," she added.

She underscored the need for Congress to immediately pass Palace-certified bills meant to boost the national economy.

The measures also include the anti-money laundering bill which she said formed part of the country’s commitment in the fight against terrorism and other forms of transnational crimes.

Meanwhile, militant organizations staged a "peace rally" in front of the US Embassy in Manila to voice their opposition to "America’s New War" against terrorists, in the process tying up traffic on Roxas Boulevard and nearby streets.

The rallyists urged Congress to reject Malacañang’s plan to contribute troops to the US-led campaign against international terrorism as personified by Bin Laden.

"Operation Infinite Justice is boundless injustice since it will lead to wanton slaughter of the innocents as Bush intends (to launch) a full-scale war by any means, not a mere surgical operation against his primary suspects, the Taliban and Osama bin Laden," Sanlakas president Wilson Fortaleza said. –Marichu Villanueva, Sandy Araneta