US to assist Phl in dealing with bus bombings

MANILA, Philippines - The United States has committed to assist the Philippines in fighting terrorism, particularly in dealing with bus bombings and investigating bomb explosions.

This was announced in a joint statement issued following the “2+2 meeting” of Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in Washington last Monday.

The US State Department’s Anti-Terrorism Assistance program has strengthened the counterterrorism capacity of the Philippine National Police (PNP) by establishing facilities for explosives ordnance disposal (EOD) training and a forensics laboratory for post-blast

investigations.

In the joint statement, the US also committed to assist in the establishment in the Philippines of a National Justice Information System to promote the rule of law and the efficient recording, monitoring, tracking and reporting of crimes, cases, offenders and victims.

Both countries recognized that bilateral cooperation includes this year’s increased counter-narcotics cooperation between the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the US Drug Enforcement Administration at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that resulted in several drug seizures, including 20 kilograms of methamphetamine, and the arrest of 11 drug couriers.

With the assistance of various US interagency partners, the PNP established a Special Boat Unit based in Palawan that also resulted in the arrest of 165 persons at sea, seizure of 12 vessels and substantial contraband in 2010.

This summer, the US and the Philippines will jointly host an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) workshop on measures to combat bus terrorism.

Both countries continue to cooperate in the areas of humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, and maritime security, and have conducted nearly 20 combined exercises every year, including the recently completed 28th Balikatan.

The Philippines is a committed peacekeeping provider, deploying nearly 1,000 troops, police and civilians to United Nations peacekeeping missions annually, which the US supports through continued funding and training.

Over 100 US ships visited the Philippines last year.

In June 2012, the US hospital ship USNS Mercy will provide medical, dental, and veterinary services to Filipinos on the islands of Samar, Basilan, and Sulu.

US personnel also intend to partner with counterparts from the Philippine armed forces to construct and renovate school and health facilities.

Aside from this, more than 500 Philippine military personnel completed programs through the US military system in the last fiscal year and Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadets have been accepted into each of the major US service academies.

The joint statement said that the US intends to promote the establishment of an integrated criminal justice database system for the Philippines and emphasized that the two countries are committed to principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the United Nations Convention against Corruption, and other applicable international instruments related to human rights and good governance.

As joint steering committee members of the Open Government Partnership, both countries support a set of common principles guiding the relationship of the governments and their citizenry.

The Philippines and the US are steering committee members of the Open Government Partnership, which aims to develop norms and standards for open governance, transparency and civil society participation.

The two sides support continued efforts to promote greater government transparency and the rule of law.

A founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Philippines is the current ASEAN country coordinator for the US, and will host the US-ASEAN Dialogue in Manila this May, along with the first meeting of the US-ASEAN Eminent Persons Group.