Sen. Aquilino Pimentel said yesterday he will not allow the US Secret Service to frisk him when he enters the Batasan Pambansa complex to hear United States President George W. Bush address the joint session of Congress on Oct. 18.
"I will not allow myself to be frisked in the country by any of the American security," Pimentel said at the weekly press forum at the Sulo Hotel.
"This is my country and the Batasan, being the site of the joint session, is home to legislators and, being a legislator, I am part owner of the Batasan," he said. "It will be quite odd for the owners of the house to be frisked by the guests."
The US president will be in the Philippines for an eight-hour state visit before flying to Bangkok, Thailand to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
Pimentel’s strong refusal to be frisked by Bush’s security detail was made despite a statement from House deputy secretary general Artemio Adaza that it is highly unlikely that lawmakers will be frisked by the Secret Service amid threats by militant congressmen that they will stage a protest during Bush’s address.
While he will not tolerate being frisked, Pimentel said he is willing to undergo other security procedures, such as passing through a metal detector.
Pimentel also bared his wish list for the Bush visit. "I just hope that Bush will mention the fact that they are pushing, brokering, a definite peace in Mindanao. I am also awaiting his declaration of military assistance and for him to at least ease a little bit our foreign debt payments."
Reacting to reports that the Philippines is the top target for terrorist attacks by the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), he said, "whether we are No. 1 or not, there is always the possibility that we are the target of terrorism."
With this possibility, "we will not be hard put to protect ourselves," the senator from Cagayan de Oro City said.
The Philippines, like any other country, will not be 100 percent terror-free, he added, citing the Israel defense force, one of the best anti-terrorist groups in the world, "which is still struggling to prevent attacks staged by suicide bombers."
The warning that the county is an "open target" for JI terrorists was made Thursday by Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill.
Western-style clubs, discos, hotels and other symbols of the affluent western world, such as multinational businesses and fast-food outlets make Metro Manila the "most target-rich environment in Southeast Asia," Hill said.
The al-Qaeda-linked JI has been blamed for the string of terrorist strikes in Southeast Asia, including last year’s bomb attacks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people and hurt 300 others, most of them Australian tourists.
The JI is also believed to have been behind the bombing of the JW Marriott Hotel in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta that killed 12 people last August.