Early April, the US Embassy released a travel advisory warning its citizens against going to Central Visayas, particularly in Cebu and Bohol. Philippine National Police Chief Director General Ronald Dela Rosa confirmed the threats of kidnapping within the area but did not disclose the group being monitored. He played down the threats by assuring that the police are prepared.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines, on the other hand, dismissed the allegations and assured the public that there was no threat of terrorism over the area. Days later, the AFP encountered the suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf group in Bohol where a policeman and three soldiers were killed. Around 700 residents fled the area and sought refuge from nearby barrios due to the clash. After this encounter, more countries issued warnings against traveling to the Philippines such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
The series of abduction and beheadings which started decades ago continue even after we have transitioned to a new administration. Last year, two Canadian hostages were beheaded due to unmet ransom demands. In February, a German who was kidnapped in November 2016 was also killed. This April, a fishing boat captain who was abducted last December and one of the soldiers involved in the peace process were the latest victims of such barbaric killings.
We are alarmed by the continuing acts of terrorism and extreme violence by the Abu Sayyaf group. Although the number of its members has been reportedly reduced to 200-300, the Abu Sayyaf is relentless.
A collateral victim to these terrorist activities is the tourism industry, given the chain of travel warnings issued by many countries against the Philippines. The Department of Tourism announced increasing number of visitors in January 2017 from their report released last March. While we acknowledge this upward trend, I fear that we may not maintain this momentum because of the successive killings by terrorist groups in the various islands of the Philippines. Just recently, there were reports of possible movement of a small faction of the Abu Sayyaf group to Palawan, one of the Philippines’ primary tourist destinations.
In the 2017 GAA, the budget for AFP and the PNP generally increased. Worth mentioning is the 600 to 800 percent increase in the intelligence funds of the AFP General Headquarters, the Philippine Army, and the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, compared to 2016’s budget. According to a DBM report, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency received a P285 million allocation for “intelligence gathering, coordination, and integration, including the formulation and implementation of Anti-Terrorism measures.” Such increase raises the expectations of better performance of the said agencies. However, it does not appear to be so.
We now ask, where did these funds go? According to news reports, these were being used solely for intelligence on the anti-drug war. Only if such funds, which were approved last year, were allocated genuinely to anti-terrorism measures and investigations, the government could have easily suppressed the Abu Sayyaf group. These millions could be better allotted to joint investigations and surveillance with the US military, for example, since they have the capacity to obtain such classified information earlier than the local police. The military could have aggressively wiped out this 300-member group, instead of allowing this reduced number to commit more crimes and take more innocent lives. An all-out war, similar to Estrada’s campaign against the MNLF, may be promptly launched with the increased funding of the military.
We are near the end of the First Session of Congress. Soon, budget deliberations will commence. I am disturbed and, at the same time, dismayed at how the approved budget, particularly for military intelligence and defense, is being used. We have repeatedly called on the administration to put our attention to other pressing issues. I am, once more, urging the administration to look into other problems such as terrorism which gravely affects the safety and well-being of our citizens and tourists, and tarnishes the reputation of our country as a safe place for tourism and foreign investments.