Terror threat, violence hound RP elections

Militant Islamic terrorists, communist rebels, private armies and a bitterly polarized electorate; Philippine security forces face a troubling array of threats ahead of next week’s elections.

The Armed Forces have been placed on the highest alert ahead of the May 10 polls after what has already been the bloodiest election campaign since the fall of dictator Ferdinand Marcos 18 years ago.

While most of the 83 deaths so far have been blamed on armed gangs linked to political squabbles, the biggest fear is a major terrorist attack by Muslim extremists.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Narciso Abaya has warned there was no fool-proof plan to prevent an attack by the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim militant group from Mindanao accused of links to the al-Qaeda network.

"We have made a number of arrests and we have confiscated a number of explosives, but there is no 100 percent guarantee that we have arrested all of them," Abaya told a meeting of election officials.

Authorities in March said they foiled a bombing campaign in Metro Manila by the Abu Sayyaf targeting commuter trains and shopping malls which they compared to the Madrid terrorist attacks which killed more than 200 people.

In late February, the Abu Sayyaf claimed to have bombed a ferry in Manila Bay, killing more than 100 people. The cause of the disaster is still being investigated, but the security forces fear some members of an Abu Sayyaf cell in the capital could still be on the run.

Adding to the jitters, two men were captured over the weekend trying to plant a bomb at the office of the main election watchdog and President Arroyo canceled final campaigning in the Visayas and Mindanao over fears of an assassination attempt by Muslim extremists.

"The threats on the President’s life are real and nobody is taking any chances as the nation prepares to vote," said her spokesman Ignacio Bunye.

The south of the mainly Catholic Philippines has for years been wracked by an anti-government Muslim insurgency and has become a haven for radical Muslim groups such as the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah.

Mrs. Arroyo, who has a small lead in opinion polls over main challenger Fernando Poe ahead of the election, is a key US ally who has contributed Filipino troops for the occupation of Iraq and hosted American anti-terror soldiers.

The security forces are also facing threats from a three-decade insurgency by communist rebels, the New People’s Army, who control swathes of the countryside.

NPA rebels have promised to kill candidates who enter their areas with armed bodyguards and have been blamed for over 10 election-related killings.

The authorities have also been working to dismantle the myriad of "private armies," essentially hired gangs of thugs working for politicians across the country.

Police have marked 44 towns and cities as "hot spots" for potential violence, many of them in the central and southern Philippines, where many "partisan armed groups" operate.

Some 43 million registered Filipino voters will elect the president, vice president, half the Senate and the entire House of Representatives. More than 17,000 local posts are also up for grabs.

The presidential election has become a bitter fight between Mrs. Arroyo and Poe, the country’s most famous film star who is hugely popular among the poor but is treated with suspicion by the ruling elite.

In an attempt to head off violence in the run-up to and aftermath of the election, the Arroyo and Poe camps Monday signed an agreement pledging to respect the outcome of the vote.

Fears have been raised about potential unrest should neither win by a decisive margin, but US charge d’affaires Joseph Mussomeli said he was hopeful whoever won would work towards national unification.

"My hunch is that it’s not going to be as bad as what most people think," Mussomeli said. — AFP