Cops show off skills versus terror

Authorities showcased their worst-case scenario preparations in conducting safety drills at high-value terrorist targets in Quezon City yesterday.

Sponsored by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), the anti-terror drill was held where a bomb explosion supposedly ripped through the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) station in Cubao.

The drill showed how security forces are able to cope with the possibility of another deadly attack reminiscent of the Dec. 30, 2000 bombing of the Light Railway Transit (LRT) station in Blumentritt, Manila that left several people dead and wounded.

NCRPO chief Director Leopoldo Bataoil said the drill is necessary to oversee the preparedness and capability of security forces in handling emergency situations in Metro Manila.

Bataoil said the drill is part of the awareness campaign program and preparation strategy to combat terrorism.

“It’s better to be prepared than to be sorry later. This exercise is in support of our policy to ensure protection of lives and properties in the event of a major emergency happening,” Bataoil said.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, ATC chairman, said the exercise was meant to identify the planning, guidance and tools necessary for preventing such attacks and the related issues and problems that might arise from the scenario.

“If something happens, the action of the authorities would become automatic so that the detection and apprehension of the perpetrators would take place and terrorism would be prevented in the other places,” he said.

The NCRPO and the ATC devised a scenario where passengers on board a commuter train traveling from Anonas to Cubao terminal stations were surprised by a “suicide bomber” with explosives strapped to his body.

As part of the scenario, panic broke loose with the train operator requesting urgent assistance from the MRT management.

The train operator was then instructed to proceed to the shuttle track of the Araneta-Cubao terminal station while awaiting response from the authorities.

After a series of coordination and instructions from the ATC head, a crisis management team was formed.

But even before the suicide bomber could be neutralized, the bomb strapped around his body went off before reaching the Cubao terminal, leaving hundreds of passengers “killed and injured.”

A Command Management Team was then activated, this time calling in special police forces and military units while authorities sealed off the area.

While evacuation operations were underway, police and military counter-terrorism units stormed and neutralized the supposed back-ups of the suicide bomber, killing all but one who was wounded and was brought for interrogation.

During interrogation, the suspected terrorist confessed that another group was already out to launch a chemical attack on another MRT in North Avenue.

Responding lawmen immediately arrested the passenger while about to board the train carrying a bag filled with toxic chemicals.

The drill went smoothly and convinced some commuters that it was for real.

LRT Administrator Melquiades Robles had to repeatedly announce to the scared commuters that it was merely a drill.

Tighter security in Zambo City

Authorities also implemented tighter security measures aimed at “hardening” possible targets in Zamboanga City following the bomb attacks in Iligan that killed three people and wounded several others last Thursday.

Zamboanga City police chief Senior Superintendent Mario Yanga stressed the possibility that the city remains the target of diversionary attacks as the military sustains its offensive against threat groups in Mindanao.

Yanga cited the bombing in Iligan, which according to him, could have been a diversionary attack meant to disperse military forces going after the Abu Sayyaf and renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels.

“Zamboanga City has been a favorite target (for terrorists),” Yanga said, citing the bombing of the Metropolitan Immaculate Cathedral and a commercial building near the airbase in the city last June.

Maritime authorities led by the Philippine Coast Guard also implemented tighter security measures at the various seaports across the country.

Coast Guard commandant Vice Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said some 5,000-strong personnel were placed under heightened alert against possible terror attacks at sea.

Tamayo said the risks are higher since more people would be going home to their provinces or take vacations during the long holiday break.

“During the lean season, only 40 to 50 percent of the total capacity of passenger vessels are filled up, but during the Christmas holiday, the ships would have 100 percent,” he said.

“But so far, there has been no reports of terrorist threat in the seas,” Tamayo added.

The Coast Guard also urged shipping firms to coordinate and heighten their security measures on their ships. – With Marvin Sy, Roel Pareño, Rainier Allan Ronda and Evelyn Macairan