RP, Indonesia establish action plan vs Bali bombers

GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Philippine and Indonesian police have approved an action plan for capturing the two suspected masterminds of the October 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia.

The approved plan covers intelligence sharing, locating and dealing with witnesses; conduct of searches, seizures and arrests; handling of evidence, and the turnover of suspects to concerned authorities.

Indonesians Dulmatin and Umar Patek slipped into the Philippines shortly after the Bali terror attacks and are now believed holed up in Sulu. The two are members of Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist organization.

Government troops and police are hunting the two in Sulu along with Abu Sayyaf chief Khadaffy Janjalani.

Police officers from the Philippines and Indonesia met at the Royal East Hotel here for a five-day conference on combating transnational crimes and terror. The conference was a follow-up to the Nov. 6 meeting in Indonesia during which Philippine National Police (PNP) representatives led by Police Deputy Director General Antonio Billiones presented draft guidelines for joint police efforts in tracking down suspects in transnational crimes.

Conference participants said the action plan may only be carried out upon request from any of the two countries.

The PNP proposal sought to tackle the unabated entry of foreign terrorists into the country.

Indonesian Police Inspector General Drs. F.X. Sunarno, deputy chief for operations, proposed that anti-crime efforts involve an intense search for credible witnesses.

"It (joint anti-crime effort) should be expanded and should not focus on the suspects alone, but also to include the witnesses," an Indonesian police officer told the local police delegates.

It was learned that in Indonesia, a suspect is considered guilty until proven innocent. And if he is proven innocent, the arresting officers are jailed.

"That is the reason why they wanted to look and secure witnesses to ensure conviction. Kung hindi, sila ang makukulong (If they don’t, they go to jail)," a member of the PNP delegation said.

The other issues to be discussed in the series of meetings are illegal cross border activities, smuggling, piracy and human trafficking.

Criminal and terror groups from neighboring countries, particularly Malaysia and Indonesia, enter and leave the Philippines through the so-called southern backdoor in Mindanao.