Terrorism still top threat to security, economic dev’t

Deputy Director General Reynaldo Velasco, head of the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC) yesterday said that terrorism continues to be the biggest threat to national security and economic development, noting that the frequent sightings of members of Jemaah Islamiya in Mindanao confirmed attempts by the terror group of strengthening its forces in the Asia-Pacific region.

"The Jemaah Islamiya, despite the claim that the initiative taken against them was successful, remains the strongest and the most pronounced ‘public enemy No. 1’ for almost all countries in the region," Velasco reported in the PCTC’s semi-annual report.

Velasco, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director prior to his appointment as head of the PCTC, however, said the Philippine government has been successful so far in taking the necessary precautions to avert any large-scale terror attack by the JI militants.

The PCTC director pointed out that the US expressed utmost concern at the presence of JI training camps in Southern Mindanao, some of them reportedly being operated by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), although the rebel group had denied hosting the JI terrorists.

Velasco said the JI issue was also tackled in two international conferences through the Interpol’s NCB-Manila Secretariat as part of the country’s counter-terrorism plan.

"Sixty-two participating countries attended the 18th Interpol Asian Regional Conference held at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel on March 16-17. Following the said event was the hosting of the 1st Project Pacific Working Group Meeting at the same venue on March 18-19," Velasco said, adding that 140 delegates and observers from Asia and the Pacific Region joined the twin events.

Both conferences were aimed at probing the growing force of terrorism across the globe. Analysis of the terrorism situation reveals that suicide bombing is the latest trend as shown by the 9/11 attack and the recent Madrid bombings, he added.<