‘RP airports safe from terror attack’

Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Edgardo Manda said yesterday the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and the Manila Domestic Airport are safe from any possible terrorist attacks despite earlier apprehensions expressed by the military.

Manda assured the public that security arrangements at the airports are well in place.

"I can confidently assure local and foreign travelers that the country’s premiere airstrips are safe from any possible attack by terrorists," he said.

Manda’s assurance came at the wake of reports that some terrorist groups might undertake "sympathy attacks" on seaports and airports in the event the US decides to launch a military action against Iraq.

Manda announced that they recently acquired at least four pieces of state-of -the- art security equipment such as walk-thru hand-held detectors and X-ray machines amounting to P20 million from Germany.

"The high tech gadgets will be placed in strategic areas of the NAIA to further enhance its security capability and avert any possible attack by some extremist groups who might want to sow destabilization in the country," Manda stressed.

Earlier, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff General Dionisio Santiago was quoted in a press briefing earlier in the week that "terrorist groups such as the Abu Sayyaf might conduct a terror campaign in the country to dramatize their opposition to the plan of the US to attack Iraq."

"Our airports are well-secured by our well-trained and highly competent security personnel, nevertheless I decided to issue the alert status to avert any possible attack by extremist groups which might take advantage of the highly volatile situation in the Middle East," Manda pointed out. – Rey Arquiza