Ople becomes member of GMA’s national security team

Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople is now a member of President Arroyo’s core of national security advisers.

Mrs. Arroyo has issued Executive Order No. 151, dated Dec. 9, to include Ople in the Cabinet oversight committee on internal security.

In her order, Mrs. Arroyo said Ople should be in the committee because "matters relating to internal security may have foreign policy dimensions" and the government’s foreign policy "may provide opportunities that may help address internal security issues."

The order came in the wake of the sudden closure last Nov. 28 of the Australian and Canadian embassies and the European Union mission, all in Makati City, due to alleged terrorist threats.

Actually, Ople headed the forerunner of the Cabinet oversight committee, the Cabinet Cluster E on political and national security matters.

Ople was excluded when Cluster E was reorganized by Mrs. Arroyo in October. The oversight committee is headed by Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo.

The other members of the panel are National Security Adviser Roilo Golez, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, Interior Secretary Jose Lina, presidential adviser on the peace process Eduardo Ermita, presidential adviser on special concerns Norberto Gonzales, presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye.

The embassies were shut down allegedly due to "credible" terrorist threats, taking the Philippine government by surprise, which said stepped up security across Metro Manila minimized the possibility of terrorist attacks.

Government officials have insisted there were no threats and called the embassy closures an overreaction that harmed the country’s image as a safe investment and tourist destination.

Australian and Canadian officials refused to acknowledge that their missions closed down based on raw intelligence information from Manila police intelligence chief Superintendent George Gaddi.

Gaddi was suspended for allegedly leaking the intelligence report to the embassies.

Last week, Ople said the embassies will reopen soon but at new, safer locations. – Marichu Villanueva