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Southeast Asia

Manila raises security after reports of attack plan

2006-06-22

The Philippines raised security in the capital Manila on Thursday after intelligence that Muslim rebels with suspected ties to foreign militants planned to attack shopping malls and transport systems, a top police officer said. Vidal Querol, Metropolitan Manila's police chief, said about 15 check points were set up around the capital to guard critical public and private installations such as petrol depots, power, water and communications stations and bus and train stations. "We have been getting intelligence reports on an alleged plot by terrorist groups to plant bombs in Manila and other key urban centres in the south," Querol told journalists, adding he had met with mall owners to seek their help in tightening security. "They promised to help us ensure the safety of shoppers by beefing up mall guards and installing extra security cameras." Querol said the nearly 20,000 police officers in Metropolitan Manila, the sprawling capital of the poor Southeast Asian state, were placed on heightened alert at dawn on Thursday. "In the last few weeks, we're getting consistent reports from various sources about a plot by Muslim rebels to simultaneously bomb three or four targets in the capital," a senior police intelligence official told Reuters. The official said authorities were worried because the reports filtering in contained "very specific" details about the bomb plot, such as date, time and place of targets. Brigadier-General Delfin Bangit, commander of the elite Presidential Security Group, said they were concerned about the increasing threats from local militant groups with suspected ties to Indonesian jihadist groups. "There were consistent reports of bombings," said Bangit. "We are very concerned because the president has been moving around." Intelligence officials blame a small group of radical Muslim converts, Rajah Solaiman Revolutionary Movement, for the series of bombings in the capital since 2004, including the worst attack that killed over 100 people in a ferry explosion. Two of the group's top leaders -- Ahmad Islam Santos and Pio de Vera -- were arrested last year in the southern port city of Zamboanga, disrupting an alleged plot to detonate a truck bomb in Manila. "Our latest information suggested a fresh plot to be carried out by new recruits," the intelligence official said, adding the regional militant network Jemaah Islamiah and its local partner Abu Sayyaf may have provided funds for the planned attack.

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Southeast Asia

Eight hurt in Philippines grenade blast

2006-06-12

MANILA: A powerful explosion ripped through a public market south of Manila, hurting eight people, and a separate blast damaged a commuter bus, police said on Sunday. The two grenade attacks came amid tight army and police security as the Philippines celebrates its 108th independence day on Monday. No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts. “The attacks appeared to be unrelated,” Vidal Querol, Manila’s police chief, told reporters. “We still don’t have any suspect.” In the first attack, eight people were wounded when a grenade placed in a bag went off at dawn in a packed public market in Lipa City, 80 kilometres south of Manila. “Based on our initial report, the blast was caused by a fragmentation grenade placed in a bag that was left near the live chicken section of the market,” said a police spokesman. The wounded were taken to two nearby hospitals for treatment of shrapnel wounds, the police added. Communist New People’s Army rebels were known to be active in the province, but a guerrilla spokesman had denied his group’s role in the assassination attempt on the governor.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines claims Labor Day bomb plot foiled

2006-05-02

DESPITE lack of evidence, police claimed to have thwarted an alleged plan by communist insurgents and rebel soldiers to bomb this year’s Labor Day rallies after they arrested five suspected leftist guerrillas in Cavite province last week. The alleged communist insurgents, identified as Aries Sarmiento or Ka Narsing, Marvin Galang or Jofel and Kelly, Axel Alejandro Pinpin or Andoy, and Riel Ramos Custodio or Gerald, and their driver, a suspected asset of the New People’s Army, were arrested in the vicinity of Sungay village in Tagaytay City some 56 kilometers south of Manila at around 6 p.m. Friday, said Senior Superintendent Aaron Fidel, Calabarzon police intelligence chief. But no explosives were recovered from the suspects although receipts for the purchase of bomb components were seized from them, admitted Chief Superintendent Prospero Noble, regional police commander for Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon). Also seized from the suspects were electronic devices containing documents, some of which allegedly showed in detail the protesters' programs during Labor Day, a map of the region, and mobile phones that also purportedly showed an exchange of text messages between those arrested and members of the right-wing Magdalo rebel group, police officials said. The police however did not identify the messages' senders. "There was none," Noble said, when asked if the alleged May 1 bomb plot was mentioned in the documents. "What is significant here is that the exploitation of recovered documents and disks, there appears to be a link between the so-called Magdalo forces together with the CPP-NPA and some sectoral organizations," Director General Arturo Lomibao, Philippine National Police chief, told a news conference Monday. Lomibao also noted that the evidence linking the alleged communists to the rightist elements was an alleged claim by one of the five suspects that he had met with Army First Lieutenant Lawrence San Juan, a member of the Magdalo group that staged the July 27, 2003 mutiny. San Juan was arrested February 24, 2006. "There were plans for this May 1 celebration They were coordinating instructions what to do during the celebration," Lomibao said but refused to elaborate. "We have opened only two documents and we recovered many," Lomibao added. Police pulled over the suspects who were driving a box-type Mitsubishi Lancer, as one of them was allegedly wanted for the recent killing of an Army soldier, said Fidel, Calabarzon police chief. Receipts for the purchase of several kilos of ammonium nitrate and 8,000 pieces of metal balls, allegedly intended for use as bomb shrapnels, flash drives, and several subversive documents were seized from the suspects, Fidel confirmed. The group was allegedly on its way to Talisay town in Batangas province for a meeting with NPA comrades, Fidel said. Sarmiento is the alleged secretary general of the NPA in Cavite province. Galang allegedly met with San Juan while he was in hiding, Fidel said. Metro Manila police chief Director Vidal Querol said the bomb threat on the Labor Day rallies brought to mind the leftist orchestrated attack on Plaza Miranda in September 2001. "They have done it before, and at the right time and for the right reasons, they can do it again," he said. In an interview with reporters, Sarmiento denied he was an NPA member. He said he worked as a researcher for Cavite Representative Crispin Remulla. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) said last week that a few members of its local chapter in Cavite had gone missing. Some of them were among those arrested, a police report confirmed. KMP spokesman Carl Ala decried what he called another attempt by government to link his group and forces under the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan to the NPA and the Magdalo rebel group. Thousands of militants took to the streets on Monday, Labor Day, to press for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and demand a wage increase.

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Southeast Asia

Fresh 4-phase coup plot uncovered in the Philippines

2006-02-17

The Philippine government and armed forces said they were containing a plot to overthrow and perhaps even kill President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by fugitive mutineers backed by retired officers and opposition figures. "Everything is under control," Lieutenant Colonel Tristan Kison, the armed forces spokesman, said on radio on Friday. He said extra security was in place and the justice department was investigating the masterminds but troops were on normal alert. "We discovered that there are some who are recruiting, but I cannot tell you who they are," Kison said. "Knowing and proving are different things." Last year, Arroyo survived a political crisis, including an impeachment attempt, over allegations of vote-rigging and corruption. Police in Manila went on heightened but not maximum alert on Friday over reports of large anti-Arroyo protests planned for February 24, the day before the country marks the 20th anniversary of the "people power" revolt that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos. "Monitor well and be ready for any contingency," said the capital's police chief, Vidal Querol. Opponents suspect Arroyo's government of amplifying threats to ward off plotters and seek sympathy. Fresh talk of a plot by some elements of the military has been growing since the escape from an army camp in January of four alleged leaders of a bloodless, one-day mutiny in 2003. Quoting two senior generals, Reuters reported details of the plot on Thursday, including a mass escape of mutineers originally set for January, taking hostages at a gathering of military commanders, occupying army camps and removing Arroyo. Intelligence officials said a politician identified with the opposition was offering up to 500 million pesos ($9.7 million) to oust Arroyo, an economist whose term is due to run until 2010. The two generals said two politicians, one with a military background, and several retired officers had been identified as the masterminds of the four-phase plot. Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the rogue troops planned to assassinate him and Arroyo. "The president is aware of this. They mentioned two names in their plot," he said on Thursday. "It's me and the president." He said a document with details of the plot had been found in the locker of one of 27 mutiny leaders still in detention. "They were supposed to carry out a mass jail break on either January 20 or 21," he said, adding that the plan was to have culminated this month or in March, when the president was due to address graduates of the Philippine Military Academy. Arroyo, who is also commander-in-chief, is to skip this weekend's annual reunion of the academy, one of the alleged targets of the plot. Arroyo called generals to a security briefing on Thursday, a day after six armored vehicles beefed up defences at the presidential palace. On Thursday, one of the four escaped mutiny leaders called on Filipinos to wear red bands on their left arms to protest against "the fake government of Macapagal Arroyo."

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Southeast Asia

Man arrested with dynamite at Manila rail station

2006-01-30

MANILA - Philippine police said they arrested a man with two sticks of dynamite, blasting caps and a timing device at a commuter railway station in eastern Manila on Monday but that a second suspect had escaped. The capital’s police chief, Vidal Querol, told reporters the 44-year-old man was carrying the explosives in a backpack and acted suspiciously while passing through security at the light rail station in Pasig City. “It’s too early to conclude if he’s a member of any Muslim militant group,” Querol told Reuters. “The bomb was not ready to go but it could be assembled easily.” Security analysts have warned that small bombs in backpacks were becoming the weapon of choice among Muslim militants after last year’s attacks on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 20 people at restaurants packed with foreign tourists. Police said the arrested man was carrying a driver’s licence with the name Zaldy Munda of Bulacan province, north of Manila. Based on statements by guards at the station, police said Munda offered a bribe of 2,000 pesos ($38) to allow him and his companion to pass without the backpack being searched. Police said the other man escaped when the guards called in bomb-sniffing dogs and opened the bag. Security forces in the mainly Roman Catholic country are battling Muslim and communist insurgencies. Several dozen foreign militants with ties to local Islamic groups are believed to be hiding on the southern island of Mindanao. Public transport has been a target of Muslim militants in the past, including coordinated blasts on trains and a bus in Manila in December 2000 that killed 22 people and the bombing of a ferry near the capital in February 2004 that killed more than 100. Last February, 12 people died in nearly simultaneous blasts in the capital and two cities on Mindanao on Valentine’s Day. Three suspects, including an Indonesian militant, have been sentenced to death over one of last year’s attacks -- the bombing of a bus in Manila’s financial district.

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Southeast Asia

7 JI members may try and attack SEAG

2005-12-07

The Singaporean government reportedly warned the Philippines of the presence of seven members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network out to sow terror during the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Manila, which formally came to a close last night. Metro Manila police chief Director Vidal Querol clarified that the report was unverified but said he raised the number of policemen guarding yesterday’s closing ceremony from 2,000 to 3,000 as a preemptive measure. "We have not verified the report but, just the same, I raised the number of police personnel securing the closing ceremony of the games as a precautionary measure," he said. "We need to be extra vigilant on the last day of the games." The report claimed that the Singaporean delegates and athletes were not aware of the tip by the Singaporean government, nor were they advised to pull out of the competition. "The athletes continue to participate unless instructed by their government to leave for security reasons," the report said. However, the Singaporean government had expressed satisfaction with the strict, elaborate security measures being implemented in Cebu and Metro Manila. "I don’t know where the report came from," Querol said in Filipino. "But we should not let our guard down because they (terrorists) might put one over on us at the closing ceremony." Querol did not raise the alert level of the Metro Manila police, who remained at heightened alert yesterday, over the fresh report. He earlier announced that at least 2,000 policemen would be assigned to secure the Quirino Grandstand in Rizal Park during yesterday’s closing ceremony, but the PNP deployed an additional 1,000 at the last minute.Querol pointed out that at least 5,000 policemen were deployed to secure the SEA Games opening ceremony last Nov. 27. Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., intelligence chief of the National Capital Region Police Office, insisted that the report could be a product of an attempt to spread disinformation. "We have not monitored such a report. We checked and cross-checked with other intelligence units, but no such report was monitored," Rojas told The STAR.

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Southeast Asia

Abu Sayyaf financier arrested

2005-11-03

Philippine police arrested the alleged finance officer of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in Baguio City, the northern Philippines on Saturday, local TV reported on Wednesday. Officers of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) on Wednesday identified the suspect as Amil Flamiano Salih alias Abu Tagalog, who had been responsible for raising funds for Abu Sayyaf and has a reward offer of 20,000 US dollars for his capture,said the report. NCRPO chief deputy director Vidal Querol was quoted earlier as saying that Salih was coordinating with Hilarion Santos alias AmadSantos, who is said to be planning attacks in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. The suspect was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest for kidnapping and serious illegal detention. The case is non-bailable,according to Judge Danilo Bucoy of the Regional Trial Court Branch2 of Isabela, Basilan. Salih, 28, was arrested near a mosque in Baguio. He was allegedly involved in the Dos Palmas hostage taking in 2001 when Filipino nurse Deborah Yap was killed, American Guillermo Sobero was beheaded and American missionary Martin Burnham was killed. Salih was reported traveling to Manila whenever he can but now detained at NCRPO in Bicutan.

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Southeast Asia

4 killed in Manila grenade attack

2005-06-06

Four people were killed and three injured in a grenade attack in a popular district in downtown Manila not far from the Malacanang presidential compound Sunday evening, said police. A two-year-old girl and a housemaid were killed on the spot, while two others died when they were rushed to hospital, said police. The grenade explosion took place inside a house in the crowded neighborhood of Legarda Street in Sampaloc, Manila, about 07:30 p. m.. Senior Inspector Rudy Moreno, deputy chief of the Western Police District Mobile Patrol, said a grenade was lobbed inside the house of Gutierrez family but the identity of the suspect was not immediately known as it was raining hard when the incident took place. However, witnesses said they saw a man running away from the site seconds before the explosion was heard. Moreno said those killed instantly were a two-year old girl and the family's housemaid identified only as Jocelyn. However, the identity of the girl was not immediately known as there were six children watching television inside the house when the blast occurred. Police are still determining the motive for the attack, although they have ruled out the possibility of terrorism, said Director Vidal Querol, head of the National Capital Region Police. The latest terrorist attack in Metro Manila took place on Feb. 14, when a passenger bus was blown up near the financial district of Makati, killing at least four people. The Abu Sayyaf group was blamed for the attack.

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Southeast Asia

Philippines Arrests Terror Trainer Suspect

2005-03-31

Philippine authorities have arrested a Palestinian man who allegedly has trained al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf guerrillas and returned to the Philippines for a possible terror mission, officials said Thursday. Fawaz Zi Ajjur, whom security officials suspect may be an al-Qaida operative, was arrested Saturday in the southern city of Zamboanga after a circuitous journey that took him to Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and before arriving in the Philippines, the officials said. Ajjur did not have a visa and was taken into custody by immigration agents at the Zamboanga airport, Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez Jr. said. He was later allegedly identified by two captured Abu Sayyaf guerrillas as one of the foreign militants who trained them in bomb-making near Patikul town on the southern island of Jolo island a few years ago, a security official said on condition of anonymity. Ajjur strongly denied the allegation and any terrorism links, the official said. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was present as Ajjur was shown to the media at an air base in Zamboanga, congratulated officials for the arrest. "This is a very important blow against terrorism," Arroyo said, shaking the hands of military and police officials. Regional Police Director Vidal Querol said Ajjur was allegedly involved in unspecified terror plots. As Querol spoke, Ajjur's eyes widened in apparent surprise over the allegations against him, then smiled. Security officials said they suspect Ajjur returned to the Philippines to further train local insurgents or to take part in an attack. Ajjur's route on the way here confused investigators. He started in Russia, flew to Thailand and took a train to Malaysia, where he shuttled between two areas before boarding a plane to Zamboanga, officials said. The Russian connection is interesting. Perhaps he was training some Chechens, or they were assisting him as part of a terrorist Lend-Lease-Explode program. Philippine authorities have been on the alert for the possible entry of foreign Islamic militants who could join Abu Sayyaf bombing plots. The notoriously brutal group has threatened attacks to avenge the deaths of commanders killed in a botched jailbreak two weeks ago. Intelligence officials say one plan by the Abu Sayyaf, together with the Southeast Asian militant group Jemaah Islamiyah and local Muslim converts, was to stage two separate car bomb attacks during the recent Easter holidays. Troops seized nearly 1,300 pounds of explosives last week from a suburban Manila home based on information from a recently captured suspected Filipino militant. The Abu Sayyaf, which is on a U.S. terror list, has been blamed for kidnappings for ransom and other deadly attacks, including a ferry bombing that killed 116 people last year in the country's worst-ever terror attack. Its ranks have been gutted by U.S.-backed offensives, but it has reportedly bolstered its loose alliance with Jemaah Islamiyah and local armed groups to widen its reach.

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Southeast Asia

Al-Ghozi's brother leads new JI landing in south Philippine

2005-03-08

The police and military are on the lookout for Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants following reports that a fresh batch slipped in through the country's southern backdoor. Western Area Police Command (WAPC) chief Director Vidal Querol cited intelligence reports that some JI militants have started training Abu Sayyaf extremists in the jungles of Central Mindanao. Querol said the WAPC is now focusing their hunt on the provinces of Agusan del Sur, Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and the Zamboanga peninsula. Querol would not confirm the intelligence report but stressed that efforts to track down the militants and their local trainees have intensified. "If, indeed, the report is positive, we cannot divulge the information because of the possibility it may preempt our efforts to stamp out the terrorists," he said. Querol made the statement after Sen. Panfilo Lacson disclosed over the weekend that 26 JI militants had landed in Mindanao and were training recruits from the Abu Sayyaf bandit group as well as diehard guerrillas from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Lacson claimed he had received reports about the arrival of the JI militants last Jan. 5. The group was led by Abdulkiran Nawaz and Mujair al-Ghozi, the brother of Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi who was killed during an encounter with the military in North Cotabato months after he escaped detention in 2003. Lacson claimed some rogue MILF leaders facilitated the arrival of the JI militants to Camp Mangaturing, the alleged terror-training center located in the boundaries of Upper Minabay, Buldon and Kapatagan towns in Lanao del Sur.

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Southeast Asia

Arroyo Rejects Truce With Jolo Gunmen

2005-03-05

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday rejected proposals for a cease-fire in the southern island of Jolo and ordered the military to continue hunting down the gumen blamed for the deaths of more than two dozen soldiers in fierce fighting last week. A Malacañang Palace press statement said the president issued the order upon the recommendation of Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz and the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Efren Abu. "The will be no letup in our operations to neutralize the remaining leaders and members of the Abu Sayyaf and MNLF renegades," said Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, the military commander in Jolo. Jolo politicians have proposed for a cease-fire after weeks of fighting believed to have killed more than 100 rebels, most of them loyal to jailed Muslim leader Nur Misuari. Misuari's followers, led by Habier Malik, said they attacked military posts in Jolo on Feb. 7 to avenge the death of a Muslim couple and their 14-year old son. The military had claimed the trio were killed during a clash between government troops and members of extremist Abu Sayyaf group. Officials also said the rebels had planned the attacks to force the government to free Misuari, who is being held in a prison near Manila on rebellion charges. Deputy Director General Vidal Querol of the national police said criminal charges are being prepared against Malik and his men. Aside from the murder charges, the police plan to file arson charges against Malik's group for burning several houses during the attacks in Jolo.

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Southeast Asia

2 Abu Sayyaf jugged in Zamboanga

2005-02-18

Police have arrested two Abu Sayyaf members, one of them tagged as a bomb-making expert, authorities said. Police, acting on a tip-off, raided a house in Barangay Baliwasan in the city's outskirts and arrested Abu Sayyaf member Nassid Tajid, who put up no resistance, said Western Area Police Command director Vidal Querol. He said Tajid is a suspect in the 1999 abductions of Fr. Roel Gallardo and several students from a Catholic school in Basilan. The priest and several other students and teachers were later killed when the military staged a rescue attempt. Querol said Tajid, 26, alias Rudimar Taji, is a bomb-making expert who worked under Jainal Antel Sali alias Abu Solaiman, who heads the Abu Sayyaf's Urban Terrorist Group. With Tajid's arrest, Querol said they could have foiled bombing plots by the Abu Sayyaf in this port city. A second Abu Sayyaf member, Jubail Sahibul, was arrested in a Zamboanga suburb last week, military spokesman Col. Domingo Tutaan said. Sahibul took part in the kidnapping of 21 Western tourists and Asian staffers on the Malaysian resort island of Sipadan in April 2000, Tutaan said. The hostages were taken by boat across the sea border to Sulu and ransomed off for millions of dollars.

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