GMA: World now safer after Saddam

The world is now a safer place from threats of terrorism as US-led forces continue to filter throughout Baghdad and wrest away Iraqi President Saddam Hussein’s control over his country, President Arroyo said.

"The coalition is now crossing the bridge between mopping up operations and the beginnings of restoration," Mrs. Arroyo said in a speech in a ceremony yesterday commemorating an infamous World War II atrocity by Japanese occupation forces.

"We are now safer from weapons of mass destruction. We are now more secure from the tentacles of worldwide terrorism abetted by rogue states."

The Philippines is among several dozen countries supporting the US-led invasion of Iraq.

Mrs. Arroyo, Asia’s staunchest US ally, earlier ordered the police and the military to go on heightened alert, saying the battle for Baghdad could trigger terrorist reprisal attacks in the Philippines for her government’s support for the war.

"We have won freedom as much as the Iraqi people have won their freedom. Thus today, Heroes Day, becomes more meaningful as a time to reminisce the sacrifices of our own soldiers and people during (World War II)," Mrs. Arroyo said.

Yesterday, Mrs. Arroyo inaugurated a memorial in Capas, Tarlac, commemorating the Death March, one of the worst atrocities during World War II.

After surrendering to invading Japanese forces on April 9, 1942, in Bataan, thousands of Filipino and American soldiers were forced to march at gunpoint over 100 kilometers to a prisoner-of-war camp. Hundreds died or were killed by Japanese troops along the way.

"We also join the Iraqi people in their struggle for freedom whose profound meaning we have always known throughout our history," Mrs. Arroyo said. Anti-Saddam celebrations by local residents have broken out in some parts of Baghdad yesterday as coalition forces fan out across the capital and mop up pockets of Iraqi resistance.

US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, who attended yesterday’s commemorative rites, said the fall of Bataan should serve as a reminder for Filipinos and Americans to appreciate the value of freedom and the sacrifices made to defend it.

"As combat continues halfway across the globe, we salute the coalition forces there," he said.

Mrs. Arroyo yesterday reiterated the Philippines’ commitment to help in the international effort to rebuild Iraq and is ready to send a 500-strong task force composed of army engineers and doctors as well as police officers.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the government is currently coordinating with the US military to know what the coalition’s needs are, and when and where the contingent should be sent. – With Ding Cervantes, Paolo Romero