MANILA, 8 April 2004 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday said intelligence operatives were hot on the trails of more terror suspects and their foreign supporters in a crackdown on suspected extremists allegedly planning attacks in Manila.
And to allay fears of persecution, Malaca–ang Palace said it will organize a "Salaam Police" to take part in the anti-terror campaign.
"The Salaam Police would be composed of Muslim officers and men and they will be assigned to the (counter-terror) operations," presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.
Bunye announced the plan a day after President Arroyo met with Muslim activists in Manila, who expressed concern over a wave of arrests targeted against suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf group.
Police had earlier arrested six Abu Sayyaf suspects, including some converts, who were allegedly plotting to bomb shopping malls, trains, television stations and other key installations in the national capital.
Thousands of Muslim activists took to the streets in protest on Tuesday, alleging that the operations discriminate against them.
Arroyo explained during her meeting with Muslim leaders that the government's crackdown on terrorism has "no racial or ethnic bias."
"She stressed that the operations against some Muslim Filipinos were based on solid information," Bunye said.
Among the six, one of whom was later released, was Alhamser Manatad Limbong, who allegedly beheaded US hostage Guillermo Sobero during one of their kidnappings in the southern island of Basilan in 2001.
Lawyers and relatives of at least two of the suspects - Walter "Abdulwali" Villanueva and Redendo "Habil" Cain Dellosa, both Muslim converts - have said they were abducted and tortured. Dellosa's lawyer has said his client was allegedly tortured into confessing he bombed a ferry that killed more than 100 people in late February. Police have denied the torture claims.
A security official has told The Associated Press that police were looking for at least one more suspect who worked closely with Dellosa and is believed to still have some TNT.
Liaison
Bunye said the president has appointed presidential adviser on the peace process Teresita Deles to be a liaison with the Muslim community.
"Should there be any problem and our Muslim brothers would like to relay their concerns, they would have somebody to approach and that is Secretary Deles," he said.
Robin Padilla, an action film star who converted to Islam, welcomed the measures and expressed hope the steps would ease fears of discrimination.
"We are very happy that we will have Salaam policemen who would make the arrest or investigation of our Muslim brothers," he said. "We are confident that the move would prevent any violations of human rights."
Rep. Loretta Rosales, a member of the Akbayan Citizens' Action Party, warned the government against conducting the terrorist crackdown in a way that feeds anti-Muslim sentiment in the mostly Roman Catholic country.
"We caution the Arroyo government against feeding existing prejudice and division in our country with its anti-terrorist hysteria," she said in a statement yesterday.
In a press statement, Arroyo stressed the need for vigilance amid reports that at least 40 Abu Sayyaf members have been trained by Indonesian extremists on making bombs.
"We are closely watching foreigners in the country who may have taught them to make bombs and who may have laundered money from the Al-Qaeda and the JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) into the pockets of local bombers," she said.
"We shall respect diplomatic conventions and be circumspect in assessing our evidence. But once we have it, they will be arrested and brought to justice," Arroyo said.
Extradition
On the United States' request for the extradition of Limbong to face charges for the kidnapping of three Americans in 2001, the government said the accused will have to stand trial in Manila for his participation in various crimes.
Limbong was positively identified by some Filipino victims of the May 2001 kidnapping of 20 people from a resort in the western province of Palawan as the one who executed American national Sobero.
Sobero was one of the three Americans who were among those abducted from Palawan. Martin Burnham, a missionary, was killed during rescue operations a year later in the mountains of Zamboanga del Norte. His wife, Gracia, was badly injured but rescued.
Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez said the Philippines can only discuss the possibility of extraditing Limbong to the US after he is tried by the court in the country.
"After the trial, we can look at the possibility of allowing him to go to the United States," she said. "But that is up to the court." (Additional input from agencies)
