‘Government needs more teeth in anti-terror drive’

The government’s anti-terrorism campaign lacks teeth, a military and a police official said yesterday, adding the country may need a draconian security law similar to Singapore’s that allows suspects to be detained without charges.

They said the government may have to review the country’s laws to make it tougher for terrorists to operate.

"In Singapore, anybody can be picked up on mere suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities, held for questioning and detained without charges," said ranking anti-terrorist police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In the Philippines, however, the country’s stringent democratic laws make it very difficult for security forces, particularly the police, to do their job, they said.

"Here, after a tedious intelligence buildup that usually ended up with the arrest of suspected terrorists, we are required by law to file charges based on evidence recovered," one official said.

For example, apprehended suspected terrorists are often charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives, which are bailable offenses, they said.

They cited the release of six suspected local members of an Arab terrorist cell the other day after the suspects posted bail.

Allan Borlagdatan, Redendo Dellosa, Pio de Vera, Marvelo Egil, Dawud Santos and Angelo Trinidad were recently nabbed in a madrasah or Islamic school in Anda, Pangasinan, which authorities believe is actually a terrorist training camp.

Authorities found high-powered rifles, ammunition, grenades, landmines and other weapons.

"We could do nothing in stopping the suspects’ release as they were merely charged with a bailable offense," one of the officials said. "Considering that these local terrorists have the funding of their international cohorts, they can easily come up with the cash bond to buy their temporary freedom."

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, terrorism and drug trafficking will top the agenda when PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza meets with his counterparts from other countries across Southeast Asia for an annual security conference in Cambodia.

Chiefs of police from nine Aseanapol-member countries are expected to attend, according to PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina.

Countries in the region are seeking closer cooperation in the wake of increasing terrorist threats, especially following last year’s Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

In his recent visit to the Philippines, Adm. Dennis Blair, the commander of US forces in the Pacific, said Southeast Asia is facing new threats of "lawlessness" that could derail economic development.

Other matters to be discussed in the conference include illegal drugs, transnational commercial fraud, fraudulent documents use, among others.

Delegates will also discuss an exchange of personnel and training programs and a creation of an Aseanapol crime database.

Mendoza will lead a six-member Philippine delegation to the 22nd Annual Conference of the Asean Chiefs of Police (Aseanapol) in Phnom Penh.

Accompanying him are Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco, director for comptrollership; Director Jose Lalisan, director for plans; Director Hercules Cataluña, director for intelligence; Director Florencio Fianza, director for human resource and doctrine development; and Supt. Allen Fortes, Aseanapol secretariat.

The Philippines is a founding member of Aseanapol, established to foster better cooperation among police forces in the region.