Senators hit tapping of ISAFP

Lawmakers slammed President Arroyo yesterday for including the military in the economic super body that will monitor the food and energy situation in the country.

Senators Aquilino Pimentel Jr., Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson and Pia Cayetano expressed their concern on the possibility of the military abusing its power in the effort to prevent food riots from occurring.

Pimentel said the move to include the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) in the economic super body only validates the perception that Mrs. Arroyo is under the control of a “powerful clique.”

“(The President’s) move widens military role in civil affairs of the nation,” Pimentel said.

Escudero said Mrs. Arroyo’s decision to include the ISAFP in economic affairs “militarizes policy-making.”

“If at all, this function should be assigned to civilian authorities. Unless of course, this is an admission that the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation are inutile and that only the ISAFP can get the job done,” Escudero said.

Escudero argued there is no need for the government to spy on the people.

He said the inclusion of ISAFP does not augur well for the volatile situation as its role in the Energy Contingency Task Force (ECTF) might even provoke what the country fears most in the face of the relentless increase in food and fuel prices.

Escudero said the government should be judicious in using the ISAFP.

Cayetano, meanwhile, said ISAFP’s inclusion in ECTF would send the wrong message.

“What’s needed is to build consensus with all sectors to find socio-econ solutions and not to cause unnecessary panic by deploying the military,” Cayetano said in a statement.

Lacson, on the other hand, said the ISAFP’s inclusion formed part of what he called “scare tactics” being employed by Mrs. Arroyo and the Cabinet.

Malacañang dismissed the allegations, saying the inclusion of ISAFP was precisely to monitor the price increase of basic commodities and its implications on national security.

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza assured the public that the move to include ISAFP in the economic super body was not meant to harass the political opposition in the guise of quelling any possible civil unrest over the crisis.

Dureza stressed that fears over the inclusion of the military in the ECTF were without basis.

“Let us wait whether apprehensions will happen. (The) inclusion of ISAFP is covered by mandate… to provide information because the work of the task force has security implications,” Dureza said, adding that the

“agencies will act accordingly on purpose (for which) they are established and that is public welfare.”

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the inclusion of the military intelligence service in the ECTF is necessary considering the national security implications of soaring food and fuel prices.

“In fact, this (oil and food crisis) should be everybody’s concern,” Ermita said.

“There is a need to detect on time possible irregularities on the ground,” he said.

Mrs. Arroyo signed an executive order creating the ECTF and included the ISAFP in the body that would monitor the food and energy situation in the face of possible food riots.

Ermita would head the ECTF under the supervision of the National Food and Energy Council (NFEC), chaired by Mrs. Arroyo.

The ISAFP, headed by former Presidential Security Group chief Maj. Gen. Romeo Prestoza, has been tasked to make “timely intelligence assessment of political and security developments related to the oil price issue and alert government offices on the same.”

Officials said the ISAFP would provide advice on matters affecting national security, considering the national security implications of soaring food and fuel prices.

Prestoza, for his part, said he has appointed several agents to attend a seminar on the current security situation on energy and food concerns.

“Our men are now undergoing seminars for them to fully understand what is the present energy, food and fuel situation and for them to be able to seize forthcoming dangers if there would be some,” Prestoza said.

The runaway increases in fuel and food prices, Prestoza said, have triggered a domino effect on other basic commodities.

“The soaring prices of fuel and energy have affected almost everybody,” he said.

Prestoza however ruled out any possibility of riots breaking out due to rising prices.

Prestoza said authorities were prepared for street protests due to inflation but that scenarios of violence and rioting like in other parts of the world were far-fetched.

“Based on our culture, it’s unlikely,” Prestoza said.

He said militant groups have been using the high cost of food and fuel as a propaganda tool against the government.

This is the reason why ISAFP has been included in the ECTF – to advise the body of the security situation stemming from the high cost of food and fuel, he said.

Prestoza allayed fears of a breakdown in law and order even as gasoline prices have risen by about 33 percent since the start of the year.

Consumers and other sectors have been demanding the scrapping of the value-added tax on oil, which adds 12 percent to the cost of fuel.

Yesterday, dozens of students and members of left-wing Anakbayan group pelted the main office of Petron Corp. with used gasoline engine oil wrapped in small plastic bags during a protest, triggering a scuffle with security guards.

A team of anti-riot police stepped in to separate the two groups. There were no arrests and no injuries reported.

“In the coming weeks, there will be civil unrest,” warned Andrew Zarate, spokesman for Anakbayan.

“The crisis will push people to come out, protest, make noise and express their anger against the government,” Zarate said. -With Paolo Romero, Jaime Laude, Perseus Echeminada