‘RP has no chemical, biowarfare capabilities’

The Philippine government does not have the capability to deal with chemical and biological warfare should terrorist groups resort to them, a police official said yesterday.

"At present, terrorist groups have yet to explore such kinds of attack. They are focused on timbak-timbak or bombs and firearms, but time might come that they would resort to biological and chemical warfare. So we need to prepare now," a ranking official of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.

The official, however, clarified that there is no indication that groups such as the Jemaah Islamiyah and al-Qaeda have the means and ability to carry out these attacks.

He said the government and the PNP should prepare by training their personnel and purchasing equipment and gadgets.

"We need to have chemical suits, gas masks, decontamination chambers... unfortunately, we don’t have even one of those gadgets," the source said.

The official, a veteran intelligence officer, said only the United States, United Kingdom and Japan have the training and equipment to deal with chemical and biological warfare.

"Terrorism is a man-made calamity and we better be prepared for it," the official said. He noted that the sharing of information could be the first step in preventing terrorist attacks.