RP not weakest link in war on terror — PNP

The Philippines is not the weakest link in the anti-terror defense network in Asia, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said yesterday.

However, Chief Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, PNP intelligence director, said the absence of an anti-terrorism law in the Philippines and the government’s limited resources "virtually tied not only one hand but both hands in the campaign against terrorism."

"But that doesn’t make us the weakest link considering that the Philippines has been the Mantique 3 of the JI," he said. "We have been effective in the anti-terrorism campaign."

The term "Mantique 3" means the Philippines serves as the training ground for international terrorist groups. "Mantique 1" refers to Indonesia, designated as a war zone for such activities, while "Mantique 2" refers to Singapore, where such groups carry out their financial activities, Rafanan said.

He maintained the Philippines has accomplished a lot in its campaign against terrorism.

Police and the military have arrested a number of suspected terrorists and money couriers belonging to the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network, he added.

Reports said Scott Harrison, managing director of the Asia-based risk consultancy firm Pacific Strategies and Assessments, claimed a lack of resources and manpower are hampering Philippine efforts to effectively monitor the various armed groups passing through the country’s vast borders.

"In this hodgepodge of information and titillating tidbits there may be grains of truth, but there is little know-how when it comes to separating the wheat from the chaff," reports quoted Harrison as saying.

Harrison was also quoted as saying the country’s security apparatus is judged by many international military and security experts to be marginal at best.

"They are severely handicapped by grossly inadequate budget resources and the lack of a truly professional and well-trained cadre of intelligence officers," Harrison was quoted as saying.

The report also noted that information gathered by the Philippine intelligence community tended to be a collection of "rumor, hearsay, fabricated information, material provided by casual and unauthenticated sources with an agenda or an axe to grind." — Cecille Suerte Felipe