Noy urges public to be vigilant vs terror attacks

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has urged the public to be vigilant against any terrorist attack.

Speaking upon arriving from Vietnam Sunday, Mr. Aquino said the Philippines has been on heightened alert even before the terror threat on the United States was uncovered.

“There are no reports of threats from foreign sources at this point,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said the terrorist threat to the US was disturbing because the explosives were sent through mail.

“In Malacañang, we have correspondences amounting to 50,000 a month,” he said. “But the volume is worldwide. So far all of our intelligence agencies tell us that if there are threats, we had imposed stricter security since the bus bombing (in Cotabato) and most especially after the bombing.”

Mr. Aquino said the areas vulnerable to terrorist attacks have been identified.“So what we are looking at now primarily are the domestic threats, plus we have spoken with President (Susilo Bambang) Yudyohono of Indonesia and besides disaster risk management, he recommended closer cooperation for anti-terrorist activities,” he said.Mr. Aquino said the issue was also raised during talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during the East Asia Summit in Vietnam last week.“We brought it up to push forward greater cooperation amongst all countries with regard to fighting terrorism,” he said.Mr. Aquino said security was heightened further after identifying the potential problems after the bus bombing in Cotabato.The problem is with chance passengers and those boarding in the middle of highways because they have not been inspected and body searched in terminals, he added.Mr. Aquino said this was one of the loopholes identified in the system of security that must be addressed. People would have to be mobilized because it was impossible to secure the country with only 250,000 men in uniform, he added.Mr. Aquino said freedom of travel is guaranteed in Philippine society.

“There is openness in our society and we are an archipelago,” he said. “Think about it, we have 7,000 plus islands, 250,000 men in uniform, we will not be able to saturate that much.”

He said “we will come up with programs to involve the citizenry further in helping us monitor the entire country at all times.”

Coast Guard: Ships must submit papers 48 hours before arrival

Responding to the terrorist threat, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Adm. Wilfred Tamayo said yesterday ships engaged in international trade must submit documents 48 hours before arrival to give them time to review the records and the cargo aboard.

“We would strictly require the ships’ agents to submit advance notice of arrivals of ships engaged in international trade at least 48 hours prior to their arrival inclusive of ship’s voyage particulars,” he said.

Tamayo said the Coast Guard would ask for the complete list of crew, persons and cargo on board as basis among others, in the conduct of port control inspections.

The new policy took effect yesterday, he added.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Arman Balilo said the advance information would allow them to conduct their own profiling. “Through our PCG-Port State Control we would be able to access the international database to check on the background of the ship, such as where it came from and the kind of shipment it carries,” he said.

Balilo said the 10 districts and 55 Coast Guard stations and the more than 100 detachments of nationwide have been directed to be more vigilant.

They were reminded to remain very strict in implementing these security measures in the ports and on board ships,” he said. “They should also closely coordinate with the shipping and port authorities, Office of Transport Security (OTS), local military and police units and other concerned agencies.”

The Coast Guard will continue to deploy boarding teams, sea marshals, bomb-sniffing dogs, divers, bomb experts, and anti terrorist unit personnel, Balilo said.

Police monitoring terror groups

Police have started monitoring possible plans and movements of terror groups in the country.Philippine National Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said the intelligence community is now focused on the terrorist threat on the US after two Chicago-bound packages packed with explosives were intercepted last Friday.

“After All Saints’ Day, we (in the PNP) are back to normal although the monitoring of the intelligence community is focused on the incident in the US,” he said.

Cruz said the intelligence units are always on the lookout against terrorists.

“Kung meron po tayong napapansin kahina-hinalang bag, packages ay agad pong ibigay alam sa ating authorires or sa pinakamalapit na police station and PNP text 2920,” he said. Philpost to tighten inspection of parcels 

The Philippine Postal Corporation will tighten physical inspection of parcels arriving in the country as a precaution against packages containing explosives.

Philpost officer-in-charge Antonio de Guzman said he would issue reminders to Philpost personnel to be thorough in checking the contents of the parcels from abroad.

However, before the Philpost gets the parcels, they pass through the X-ray machines of airline companies, he added.

De Guzman said once the parcel arrives, they send notices to the recipient.

This would have to be opened in the presence of a representative from the Bureau of Customs, he added.

De Guzman said Philpost also scrutinizes outbound cargo. Before Philpost cargo is flown out, the sender would be asked to open the parcel for inspection, he added.—Aurea Calica, Evelyn Macairan, Cecille Suerte Felipe