GMA vows safe Asean summit

President Arroyo assured her fellow Asian leaders yesterday of their safety when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and East Asia summits take place in Cebu City. The summits begin tomorrow and end Monday.

"Our fight against terror goes hand in hand with the global and regional effort,’’ Mrs. Arroyo said in Jolo, Sulu where she met with Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon and other top military officials.

"As we face the ASEAN summit, we would like to assure all our allies in East Asia and beyond that the Filipino soldiery and people are on watch every hour of the day, determined to do their share to defeat terror for a more secure and safer world,’’ she said.

She said the meetings in Cebu "will sustain the momentum in our collective fight against terror and in mopping up all forms of instability’’ that affect the region.

Mrs. Arroyo appeared satisfied with the summit preparations after a surprise visit later in the day to the Mactan International Airport and summit venue Cebu International Convention Center. The other summit venue is the Shangri-la Mactan Island Resort and Spa.

"She looked satisfied with the preparations. If there are other things lacking, I think they can be easily addressed now," Presidential Security Group chief Col. Romeo Prestoza said.

Prestoza said bad weather prompted Mrs. Arroyo to cancel her trip to Misamis Oriental where she was supposed to inaugurate a 210-megawatt coal fired power plant, and proceed instead to Cebu.

In Sulu, Mrs. Arroyo said the Cebu summit would sustain the momentum of the government’s anti-terrorism effort. He also assured the US, represented by charge d’ affairs Paul Jones, of the country’s commitment to regional security and prosperity.

"This is our commitment to the Filipino people, to all the peoples of East Asia, and all our allies like the United States," Arroyo said.

ASEAN spokesperson Victoriano Lecaros said 5,000 police and 6,000 military personnel have been deployed in Cebu to secure the world leaders and the other summit delegates.

"It’s really all systems go now and we are looking forward to the successful holding of the summits despite the travel advisories," Lecaros said over radio station dzRB.

Leo Alvez, ASEAN assistant secretary general for security; and Chief Superintendent Silverio Alarcio, Central Visayas police regional chief, said they were taking no chances in ensuring the safety of ASEAN leaders and other delegates.

Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Mindanao Command, said military blockade have been set up in Sulu and other key points in Mindanao to stave off terror attacks. Philippine Navy ships are on round-the-clock patrol in the waters of Visayas and Mindanao as part of the security measures.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also mobilized 100 agents and technical personnel in Cebu City to assist in securing the summit venues as well as in emergency situations.

NBI Deputy Director for Regional Operations Service Reynaldo Esmeralda said some of the agents came from Dumaguete City and Bohol. The NBI also set up a Forensic Quick Reaction Team composed of doctors and chemists.

"We are just preparing for the security. Just in case there would be an untoward incident the NBI with the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group would take charge in the investigation,’’ Esmeralda said.

To boost security at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport are 15 to 20 Belgian Malinois police dogs of the Philippine National Police-Aviation Security Group (PNP-ASG), according to Senior Superintendent Atilano Morada, PNP-ASG director.

"We are continuously coordinating with MCIA to check if they will need augmentation from us. Right now, we have seen the need for the deployment there of the K-9s," Morada shared.

He stressed that security at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was unaffected by the redeployment.

"We are always on our guard at the NAIA," Morada said.

ASEAN foreign ministers, meanwhile, are studying the possibility of holding an ASEAN -United Nation meeting in July with the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for ASEAN Affairs Luis Cruz said Mrs. Arroyo will also bring up the gains from the 12th ASEAN Summit before the World Economic Forum (WEF) late this month in Switzerland. The President will be the lead speaker on the topic, ASEAN Economic World Map.

Cruz said the foreign ministers are eyeing a firmer ASEAN engagement with the UN.

"Hopefully, the meeting, which we are now discussing with colleagues in New York, will push through,’’ Cruz said.

Ban, who replaced Secretary General Kofi Annan early this month, has been invited to the ASEAN Summit in Cebu.

Leaders of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam have confirmed their participation in the summit.

Leaders from Japan, South Korea, China, India, Australia and New Zealand are also arriving for a meeting with the ASEAN leaders.

The summits were originally scheduled for December last year, but were postponed at the last minute over typhoon concerns. But many quarters believed it was terror threats that forced the Arroyo administration to postpone the summit.

Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States have issued warnings that Al Qaeda-linked militants could stage attacks during the summit.

Mrs. Arroyo also commended troops for Saturday’s operation against Abu Sayyaf militants and said "these terrorist elements have nowhere to hide and are in fact already doomed to annihilation.’’

Troops are on a massive manhunt operation in Jolo to capture remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and JI militants Dulmatin and Omar Patek.

Meanwhile, weathermen said there would likely be cloudy skies and scattered rains in Cebu during the summit.

"It could be a wet but not stormy ASEAN and East Asian summits in Cebu City," said Dr. Nathaniel Servando, deputy director for research and development of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration or Pagasa.

He said the scattered rains are caused by the tail end of a cold front or the northeast monsoon. He said there is no low-pressure area developing outside or within the Philippine area of responsibility. – Roel Pareño, Evelyn Macairan, Rainier Ronda, Helen Flores, AFP