‘Osama henchmen in RP’

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez bared yesterday that some emissaries of international terrorist leader Osama bin Laden have entered the country using forged Indian passports with fake Philippine visas and other bogus travel documents.

Gonzalez said that confidential reports showed that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is being used as an entry point for the smuggling of Indians to Manila.

"These Indians arrived with fake Philippine visas and re-entry permits/special return certificates. Some Pakistanis and Afghans who are suspected emissaries of Osama bin Laden also make use of this modus operandi by using fake Indian passports in entering the country," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said that last Aug. 9, a group of ten Indians using fake Philippine visas arrived at the NAIA Terminal I on board a foreign airliner.

He said that in many cases, the arrival of Indians with fake Philippine visas and re-entry permits or Special Return Certificates are not officially registered by corrupt immigration officers and the aliens are not recorded in the Bureau of Immigration’s travel information database.

Gonzalez said he also received reports that Jemaah Islamiyah spiritual leader Abubakar Bashir (Basyir) has called on Indonesian Muslims to wage jihad or holy war against infidels overseas and in Southern Philippines.

"Speaking to his supporters in the town of Kediri, East Java, on November 5, 2006, he (Bashir) stressed the need for his followers to travel to foreign lands where Muslims continue to be subjected to injustices, singling out the Southern Philippines as a prime destination for Muslims to wage Jihad," Gonzalez said.

In a two-page order, Gonzalez directed the head supervisors of NAIA Terminals I and II, the chief of the immigration regulation division and the supervisors of all ports and sub-ports in the country to strictly monitor all Pakistanis, Afghans, Indonesian nationals and other foreign visitors carrying Indian passports who have entered the Philippines.

"For these reasons, you are hereby directed to strictly monitor and conduct surveillance and profiling of all Pakistanis and Afghans, as well as Indians and other foreign visitors carrying Indian passports who have entered the Philippines, and submit a weekly report thereon," Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez also ordered the airport officials to "secure all airline passengers’ manifests which must be confirmed and cross-checked by the official of the Bureau of Immigration encoded arrival list."