Manila, Canberra sign pact vs terror

Filipino and Australian law enforcement agencies signed yesterday a 3.65-million-Australian dollar protocol agreement to help improve the Philippines’ counterterrorism capability.

The protocol forms part of a three-year, five-million-dollar counterterrorism assistance initiative, which was announced by Australian Prime Minister John Howard during his visit to the Philippines in July last year.

The joint AusAID/Australian Federal Police (AFP)-funded Philippine Counterterrorism Capacity-Building Project was signed by Frank Prendergast of the Australian police and Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco, executive director of the Philippine Center for Transnational Crime, at the Australian Embassy in Makati City.

The signing of the terms of reference was witnessed by Philippine National Police intelligence chief Director Robert Delfin and National Bureau of Investigation deputy director for intelligence service Anthony Leongson.

In a statement, AFP Commissioner Mick Keelty said the project was designed to build the capacity of Philippine law enforcement agencies in "intelligence sharing, bomb investigation techniques, forensic capacity and other counterterrorism areas at both strategic and operational levels."

"The AFP has deployed an officer to Manila to assist in the delivery of the project and to provide advice to Philippine law enforcement agencies on counterterrorism issues," he said.

The project underlines the key strategy of the AFP’s law enforcement cooperation program to strengthen collaboration between Australia’s partners in the Asia-Pacific region and to help develop their counterterrorism and transnational crime capabilities.

Keelty said Australia had a long history of effective cooperation with Philippine law enforcement agencies.

"The AFP has maintained a liaison office in Manila since 1985 and deployed teams to the Philippines to assist with terrorism investigations on several occasions last year," he said.

Speaking at a press conference in Manila, Prendergast said the protocol was a "significant step forward in the fight against crime and terrorism in the Philippines."

"One component of the package is a computer database which will allow the Philippine crime authorities to collect and analyze intelligence data in real time," he said.

Operational details were not disclosed although it is understood that data collected could be made available to other police agencies around the world.

Australian Ambassador Ruth Pierce stressed that her government understands the importance of cooperation and intelligence sharing to combat transnational crime, including terrorism.

"It is for this reason we have chosen to concentrate on this important area of law enforcement. It is imperative that jurisdictions joining in the fight against terrorism act in a cooperative and cohesive manner," she said.

"An important aspect of this cooperative model is the sharing of intelligence in a timely manner. This will enhance our abilities to undertake joint operations aimed at identifying, disrupting and dismantling criminal syndicates involved in terrorism, drug and human trafficking, money laundering and other forms of transnational crime," Pierce said.

The pact however does not guarantee that Australia’s negative travel advisory to its citizens in the country would be lifted.

"I am sorry, we cannot guarantee that," the ambassador, who was among those evacuated from Oakwood Premier in Makati during a failed mutiny by junior military officers in July last year, said.

Threatened by a possible spillover of terrorism activities on its soil, the Australian government increased its police presence, not only in the country, but also in nearby Indonesia, believed to be the home of Jemaah Islamiyah terrorists largely blamed for the series of deadly attacks in the region.

Nearly half of the over 200 people killed in the terrorist bombings in Bali, Indonesia in October 2002 were Australians. — AFP, Jaime Laude, Christina Mendez