Animosity will kill this country

The series of bombings that rocked Mindanao early this week confirms there is in fact continuing imminent danger from terrorists. Australia and the United States had credible information that terrorists were planning these bomb attacks and issued warnings hours before the blast in Makilala, North Cotabato which immediately killed six and wounded 29 others. A day after the blast in Makilala, a bomb exploded in Cotabato City while at least six people were injured at an earlier explosion in Sultan Kudarat. These attacks are obviously the handiwork of al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah militants in retaliation for the arrest of the wife of Dulmatin, an Indonesian terrorist wanted for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.

During our lunch with PNP Deputy Director General Sonny Razon, he told us they had information that several people were involved, but they could not arrest and investigate those suspected of involvement because of the 36-hour restriction specified in the Revised Penal Code. General Sonny Razon could not stress hard enough the importance of a strong anti-terrorism bill not only because of the threats, but due to the fact that ordinary policemen are now hesitant to do their jobs because of so many constraints in the law – and we’re not only talking here of Muslim militants but the NPA as well, who destroyed an administration flagship project in Negros Occidental. The communist insurgency has been going on for more than three decades, and it seems that they’re gaining renewed strength and winning the propaganda war. These terrorists are well funded, brandishing high-powered firearms with some even equipped with techno gadgets, while the ordinary policeman does not even have money to pay for a decent lawyer to protect himself from lawsuits.

The violence that has been happening in Mindanao and in other areas in the countryside are clear examples of senseless killings that perhaps could have been prevented if authorities have the tools to fight these vicious animals. Yet even while it’s very clear that the anti-terrorism bill is urgent, our senators would rather give satisfaction to their personal grudges. The open verbal attacks between senators Nene Pimentel, Jamby Madrigal and Juan Ponce Enrile is a clear example of putting personal feelings above what is supposed to be for the greater good. Pimentel obviously has no love lost for Enrile because he believes the latter was responsible for the "dagdag-bawas" operation that allegedly made him lose the senatorial elections in 1995, aside from the fact that Enrile was also his jailor during the martial law years. Of course, people remember Jamby Madrigal as the "Crying Senator," who had a verbal tussle with Enrile when he attacked Jamby’s parents by saying they partied with the Marcoses – triggered when she accused the veteran legislator of faking his ambush to pave the way for martial law. Yet everyone knows this animosity goes even deeper since Senator Enrile accused Jamby of misrepresenting facts when her committee called for an investigation on the Enrile-owned timber concession in Samar.

Madrigal and Pimentel have filibustered, accusing pro-administration senators of railroading the bill, which is ridiculous because this piece of important legislation has been languishing in the cellar for far too long. It is clear that the times call for a bill like this, and they can not keep saying it will bring back martial law because the situation now is a totally different story altogether. It’s obvious that circumstances today call for a stronger bill, and this is what the proposed Anti-Terrorism Act tries to address by expanding the definition of acts which could constitute terrorism to include attacks launched through computers, and by extending the 36-hour detention period of suspects to 72 hours. In other countries like Great Britain, they can detain terrorists for as long as 28 days without any specific charges being filed to allow authorities sufficient time for interrogation, believing the previous 14-day maximum wasn’t long enough to thwart modern-day terrorists. Obviously the United States has come to realize that they have to protect themselves first before any human rights come into play. Before 9/11, the US could only hold suspects for 48 hours but government says the current USA Patriot Act already permits authorities to detain suspected terrorists for an unlimited period without filing any charges. People are beginning to say the US has turned into a police state with the law much tougher against terrorists in the US and abroad. But at the end of the day, if you’re a foreign terrorist in the United States – God help you – because the Patriot Act will obviously protect US citizens first before foreigners.

We should do the same here. Most of the masterminds operating in Mindanao are foreigners from Southeast Asia. These are the people plotting and planning these terrorist attacks, with credible information these will continue. And as pointed out by our allies, it’s inevitable for the Philippines to be at the center of terrorist activity. There’s no question the world is getting more dangerous and terrorism is a war that knows no boundaries, with these extremists and militants intensifying their attacks – ready to die just to kill thousands more. We are in a different kind of war which calls for a different kind of law to protect our people.

The 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu this December is a very important international event in this country, and hopefully we’ll have a strong anti-terrorism bill in place by then. It will be a disaster if there’s any kind of terrorist attack that would happen before or after, and worse, during the meeting. It would be a big embarrassment for this country. In fact, at the MOPC forum the other night, one of the key questions that was asked of our new Ambassador to the US, Willy Gaa, was how he would explain why up to this day, we have not passed an anti-terrorism bill – something which the United States has been pressuring us – I mean – persuading us to do. By the way, Willy’s counterpart in the Philippines, US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, has been quietly working to get the anti-terrorism bill passed. In just a few months since she arrived, Kristie has become enormously popular with many Filipinos because of her friendly and charismatic ways.

As it is, all this debate between politicians is more personal than anything else. This kind of petty quarrel simply must stop. The bottom line is, they just don’t like the person sponsoring the bill who unfortunately easily gets "pikon." One should remember the old Filipino saying "ang pikon talo." It’s time to go above all these personal grudges and just do what needs to be done to protect people from getting killed. Personal ill feelings have no place in the Senate. This bill is important and must be passed immediately. This continuing animosity can only kill this country – literally.

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