Japan-Asean Anti-terrorism meet in Cebu; Military Clash with Abu Sayyaf al Qaeda linked kills 11 in Basilan

A platoon of the Philippine Marines marches in this file Photo.  —File Photo by Reuters

Philippine forces clashed with Muslim extremists on a southern island Thursday (July 26, 2012), leaving seven soldiers and four militants dead, the military said.

Elite rangers battled members of the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group on the troubled southern island of Basilan, with three soldiers and two insurgents also wounded in the clash.

“Firefight is ongoing as of this report,” the military statement said.

It was the latest in a series of deadly clashes in the heavily-forested island of Basilan, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.

The group was founded in the 1990s with seed money from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Cebu meet tackles Japan-Asean cooperation to fight terrorism

A $4.1 billion fund is being proposed for anti-terrorism cooperation between Japan and Southeast Asian nations.

“There should be mutual cooperation in the area of combating terrorism.” said Tomatsu Shinotsuka of the Japanese Foreign Ministry during the 7th Asean-Japan counter-terrorism dialogue at the Marco Polo Plaza Hotel yesterday.

The dialogue will give the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Japan, a major economic player in the region a chance to discuss the substantive progress, achievement and implementation of useful projects in fighting counter-terrorism.

“Terrorism is a common threat not only in Asia but also to the world as a whole.” said Shinotsuka.

“There should be speed of cooperation and mutual trust. We will take up various aspects of cooperation between Japan and the Asean,” Shinotsuka added.

Undersectary Nabil Tan said the anti-terrorism cooperation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Japan will be boosted by the $4.1 billion Japan-Asean Integration Fund (JAIF).

Tan said the counter-terrorism dialogue is a global undertaking aimed at fostering closer collaboration and exchange of information among the ten ASEAN member states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa, Jr. who also chairs the Philippine Anti-Terrorism Council, said border security is necessary to ensure safety in the country. Ochoa said this is on top of the country’s anti-terrorism policy.

“Effective law enforcement, strong institutional mechanisms and addressing social problems like poverty and education form the core of the country’s three-point agenda to fight counter-terrorism,” Ochoa said.

For the institutional mechanisms, Ochoa said the amendments of the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and the Human Security Act is important for it to prevent and suppress terrorist financing and to put in check terrorism activities in the country.

Abu Sayyaf in Southern Philippines, and Qaeda link groups Jemaah Islamiyah of Indonesia operating in Malaysia and Southern Thailand remains a threat in the troubled area of the ASEAN region.

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Vietnam, Philippines slam China Military garrison plan in Philippine & Vietnam Territories

Vietnam and the Philippines have lashed out at China's moves to establish a military garrison in the West Philippines Sea (South China Sea), amid escalating tensions in the disputed waters.

Hanoi filed a formal protest with Beijing against the plan outlined by China this week to station troops in Sansha in the disputed Paracel Islands, saying it "violates international law".

The Paracel Islands are one of two archipelagos in the South China Sea that are claimed by both China and Vietnam.

Manila, which is involved in a dispute over another archipelago, the Spratly Islands, also weighed into the row, summoning the Chinese ambassador to lodge a complaint against the garrison announcement.

An intensifying spat over the South China Sea - the site of key shipping routes and thought to have vast oil and gas reserves - has seen a barrage of diplomatic moves between the countries with competing territorial claims.

Call for 'strong resolve'

Philippine president Benigno Aquino has called on the nation to show strong resolve against China's strident rhetoric.

In a nationwide address, President Aquino said his government had shown 'forbearance and goodwill' in the long-running dispute with China over Scarborough Shoal.

Walden Bello of the Akbayan Party, part of the Aquino administration's coalition, told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific that the Philippine people are united behind President Aquino against Beijing, but would prefer to settle the issue without conflict.

"I don't think that the response that people want is to respond with force to China's move," he said.

"The focus of the President has been to stress a diplomatic solution to the issue, to discuss it bilaterally with China, as well as to bring it to multilateral fora, like the Association of South-east Asian Nations.

"But at the same time, there is a chance that for defensive purposes, the country must be able to have a good defence capability, without being provocative," said Mr Bello

"I don't think that there is any intention on the part of the government to challenge China militarily," he said.

McCain enters fray

Meanwhile, US Senator John McCain says that China is "unnecessarily provocative" in saying it will establish a military garrison on disputed South China Sea islands.

He has called for a multilateral solution to the dispute.

"The decision by China's Central Military Commission to deploy troops to islands in the South China Sea, which are also claimed by Vietnam, is unnecessarily provocative," Mr. McCain said in a statement.

He said other action by China including its appointment of legislators to govern such disputes "only reinforces why many Asian countries are increasingly concerned about China's expansive territorial claims, which have no basis in international law, and the possibility that China will attempt to impose those claims through intimidation and coercion."

The actions by Beijing "are disappointing and not befitting a responsible great power," he said.

Words of caution

Mr. Bello says that although there are those in the Philippines government who favor seeking help from the United States, this is not a majority view.

"There are those of us within the government that are basically saying that we have to rely first of all, on ourselves, secondly on our neighbors, and be very, very careful about the way that the United States steps into the situation," he said.

Mr. Bello says it is important to look at the actual situation rather than getting agitated over China's rhetoric.

"We must distinguish between Chinese rhetoric and what it actually does," he said.

"Especially at this point, there is a leadership transition in China and everybody within every faction within the Chinese Communist Party is trying to impart, to some extent, this kind of militant discourse and rhetoric.

"Once the leadership transition is over, then you might find more flexibility on the part of the Chinese," said Mr. Bello.

"Secondly, the actual Chinese deployments that accompany its rhetoric, these are not major warship deployments," he said.

Australia News Network 

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Gloria Arroyo posts bail on fraud charges, Freed from Military hospital

Former Philippines president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, a key target in the government's anti-corruption fight, was granted bail on election fraud charges on Wednesday and walked out of an army hospital where she had been detained since December 2011.

But Arroyo could soon be back in detention with government lawyers seeking another arrest warrant from the anti-graft court, Sandiganbayan, over charges of plunder Over alleged misuse of state lottery funds, a non-bailable criminal offence.

Arroyo is also facing a graft charge over an aborted $329 million national broadband deal with China's ZTE Corp. in 2007. She denies all the charges.

Arroyo's corruption trial is central to President Benigno Aquino's pledge to tackle endemic graft that threatens to take the shine away from an economic revival and investment rebound in the Philippines.

"The fight against corruption continues," Aquino's spokesman Edwin Lacierda told reporters after Arroyo was granted a 1 million pesos ($23,800) bail. "This will not dampen our resolve to file and continue to institute corruption cases against responsible officials."

The Philippine's anti-graft court on Tuesday issued a travel ban, the third such order that will prevent Arroyo leaving the country for treatment for a spinal problem.

The 65-year-old Arroyo, president from 2001 to 2010, walked out the hospital wearing a neck brace and gray dress, and was driven home in a white van.

Television footage briefly showed her smiling and waving to supporters as her convoy made its way to her house.

A regional trial court granted her bail on the electoral fraud case because it found the evidence against her to be weak, based only on the testimony of a single witness. But the bail petition of other accused -- Andal Ampatuan, former governor of the southern province of Maguindanao, and election official Lintang Bedol -- were denied.

Ampatuan is facing 57 murder charges for his role in what was the country's worst politically-motivated killings in 2009, when relatives of his political rival, civilians, and about 30 journalists were brutally killed.

Arroyo has already posted bail on three counts of graft charges over allegations she and her husband got $30 million in kickbacks from the ZTE broadband deal.

"We thank God and all the people who are praying for her," the former leader's daughter, Luli Arroyo-Bernas said in a television interview, her voice cracking with emotion.

She insisted her mother was innocent and that the bail decision showed "there's still hope that justice can prevail in the country".

Arroyo's family and lawyers said the former leader would seek further treatment for her ailment, and may consider going overseas. She underwent a spine surgery last year.

"We will bring her to an alternative treatment facility," said Arroyo-Bernas. "We'll do everything possible to make her well again."

Many fear she might escape prosecution once she leaves detention. In November 2011, she attempted to leave for Hong Kong for treatment but was stopped at the airport by government agents. Days later, she was arrested on election fraud charges.

Arroyo, a sitting member of the lower house of Congress, will have to get permission from three separate courts before travelling abroad.

Reuters 

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