AFP ready to foil any JI attack during summit

The reported presence in the country of some 30 members of the Southeast Asian terror network Jemaah Islamiyah poses a threat to the 12th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Cebu this December, but state security forces are prepared to thwart any attack.

This is according to Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Information Office chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro in a press statement sent through email.

"The security in place has considered that as a threat," Bacarro said.

"All possible scenarios have been taken into consideration, so contingency measures will be laid out if there are such threats," Bacarro added.

Citing latest intelligence estimates, Bacarro said 30 JI members operate in the country, including Umar Patek and Dulmatin, the alleged brains of the 2002 bombing on the Indonesian resort of Bali that killed more than 200 persons, mostly Australian tourists.

While he did not specified, Bacarro said military forces would augment police security for the summit.

"The necessary security preparations would be done in collaboration with all law enforcement agencies. We have enough capability to do that," he said.

The JI, the Southeast Asian arm of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda, has launched attacks in the country with the help of the Abu Sayyaf.

These attacks include the bombing of SuperFerry 14 off Manila Bay in February 2004 that killed some 200 people and the Valentine's Day bombings in the cities of Makati, Davao and General Santos a year later that killed eight people and wounded scores others. - Gregg M. Rubio