By Recto Mercene & Rene Acosta
Conclusion
NEARLY seven decades ago, the concept of mass surveillance was etched in ink. Today the concept is called closed-circuit television (CCTV).
The CCTV camera network is one of the instruments that Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Supt. Pablo Francisco F. Balagtas regards highly in defending the three international airports against any terrorist attack and maintaining the security of passengers.
According to Balagtas, commander of the Aviation Security Group (Avsegroup), facilities like the CCTV network and other installations stop any attempt to compromise the safety of the country’s airports.
He cited, for one, that terrorists allegedly linked to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) would have difficulty in attacking the country.
“It takes time [for them] to acclimatize. They have to undergo a case buildup first, then surveillance,” Balagtas said. “But we have many facility like CCTV [closed-circuit television], and other installations to stop them, just in case.” Still, Balagtas admits, “There are no impenetrable barriers.” “But we rely on strict security implementation, as well as the different layers of security we have.”
Human acts
ONE of the security layers Balagtas said the Avsegroup has involves humans, not machines: members of the Special Operations Unit (SOU) for anti-hijacking. In case of an armed attack occurring, we have the SOU, according to Balagtas. “They are crisis-response team, our elite force.”
He added members of the SOU are heavily armed and have snipers among its ranks.
Asked how fast they can respond if some terrorist attack an airport somewhere in Mindanao, Balagtas said they have existing procedures to follow, such as alerting the local police and so on.
The procedures lead up the ladder of command until it reaches the Avsegroup if the crisis could no longer be contained locally.
“To address a serious crisis, a crisis-management committee is convened,” Balagtas said. He added the highest levels of the government are alerted all the way up to the president of the Philippines.
The readiness of his mean includes being airlifted by the Philippine Air Force for a speedy rescue in a short notice.
Balagtas said that, since assuming the post of Avsegroup commander, he also strengthened the Special Weapons and Tactics (Swat) unit by combining them into one integrated unit, which used to be separate entities.
He personally trained the Swat team to respond to any situation. “If there’s a hijacking and the local police cannot respond accordingly, God forbid, then we take over.”
Balagtas added that, during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in October last year, he was able to come up with interoperability training with other SOUs and the summit was one of the most successful events the country had hosted.
He said the country’s security arrangement during the summit was patterned after the US, where other agencies are part of the whole security apparatus. In Hong Kong and Singapore, which used to be British colonies, there is only one agency to address antiterrorism or hijacking, which simplifies coordination, according to Balagtas.
“But even if there are complications that arise in any situation, these are overtaken by good coordination and cooperation among the agencies.”
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla demurs with Balagtas’s view saying the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has specialized units trained for specialized duties, “but we are not giving specifics for their own protection.”
Padilla explained that members of these special units were trained abroad and were taught techniques and procedures when dealing with terrorist threats. Their training ensued following the kidnapping of the missionary couple, Martin and Gracia Burnham. The couple were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in 2002 and held for more than a year waiting for ransom. Martin was killed, while Gracia survived during an AFP operation to rescue them.
Last hijacking
ON May 25, 2000, Philippine Airlines Flight 812 left the Davao Airport. While en route to Manila, a man initially identified as Reginald Chua announced he has hijacked the plane. Before landing, Chua reportedly threatened the 278 passengers and 13 crew members with a gun and hand grenade.
He fired his gun into a bulkhead and demanded to be let into the cockpit. When he was refused access, Chua demanded the passengers to place their valuables in a bag before he commanded the pilot to descend so that he could escape using a homemade parachute. But Chua panicked and clung to the rear door. A flight attendant pushed him out of the plane.
The hijacker’s body, wearing a ski mask and swimming goggle, was found buried in mud somewhere in Real, Quezon. It was speculated that he survived the fall but was killed by the mud. Chua was correctly identified through his driver’s license.
That was the last reported hijacking in the country. How does the Avsegroup assure the Filipino travelers this would not happen again?
“As far as we’re concerned, we are prepared for any eventuality but we still need the cooperation of the community,” Balagtas said. “At the end of the day, you have our assurance that every aircraft that flies in our skies are safe, through the coordinated efforts of every unit involved.”
And when asked how prepared is the Armed Forces to deal with a terrorist attack, Padilla said he would throw back the same question to the reporter: “Have the Filipinos been able to experience the things that happened in the US [Boston marathon bombing], Paris and Belgium?”
Assuring words
WHILE some may find comfort in the words of Balagtas and Padilla, spokesman of the AFP, the threat of a terrorist attack remains real because of the ASG.
The ASG is considered the “most vicious” among the separatist groups in the Philippines. Some of its members have been said to have studied or worked in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and developed ties to mujahideen fighters. The ASG has proclaimed themselves as “freedom fighters.” However, even some Muslim clerics have distanced themselves from this small armed group.
Padilla said the last terrorist attack in the Philippines was the sinking of SuperFerry 14, which was firebombed allegedly by ASG members on Manila Bay on February 27, 2004. At least 116 people were killed, mostly by drowning. It was considered the country’s deadliest and the world’s deadliest terrorist attack at sea.
Padilla admits the country is also being subjected to threats. “But we are able to act on them,” he said. How the AFP would act would remain classified information, a consensus the BusinessMirror gave to make Padilla agree to an interview.
“The government has monitoring apparatus within the community and they are silently doing their jobs,” Padilla said. According to the military spokesman, the Philippines have not experienced the intensity of the terror attacks in the US, France and Belgium “because the country’s security apparatus is working day and night to ensure that our community is safe.”
Asymmetrical war
PADILLA considers the ASG not as a terrorist group but “a bunch of bandits who are more interested in money by demanding ransom.”
“The local terror groups, like the Abu Sayyaf, are motivated by money or material gains,” Padilla said. “There is rampant kidnapping at the Southern backdoor but the government has a no-ransom policy.”
However, he said families of the kidnap victims usually disobey their order not to pay because they don’t like to lose any member of their family.
At the same time, Padilla said these families are usually blackmailed by videos of their relatives being threatened with beheading if they do not cough up the required amount.
He admits, however, that in this age and time, “there is a new kind of terrorism or terrorists that are extremists in nature, with total disregard for the value of life, driven by ideology and, therefore, too evil and ruthless.”
Padilla said confronting these new kind of terrorists, gets complicated “because the AFP is now dealing with an asymmetrical form of warfare, where the enemy recognizes no rules, but our men’s action are governed by laws.”
“Sometimes, the AFP launches an operation against suspected terrorists, but when the enemy feels that they are on the losing end, they splinter into smaller groups, bury their weapons to be retrieved later and mix with civilians.”
He said when some soldiers go out in the open, like a marketplace, they recognize what looks like the faces of enemies they encounter in the field. However, he said the enemy is unarmed and looked harmless when mixing with their fellow Mindanaoans, although these are the same persons who could have planted homemade bombs.
“If you don’t have proof, like a gun, what would be the basis of your arrest?” Padilla said. “That’s why the war on terror is asymmetrical.”
Machines or men?
PADILLA estimates it would cost the country “a lot of money” if the government installs CCTV cameras nationwide.
It would be better to ask for the people’s cooperation to be watchful, according to him.
“I wish the nation could have 1 million CCTV in the form of human eyes, watching suspicious activities and reporting them to the police, instead of arming ourselves with CCTV cameras to prevent crime,” Padilla said. He added that human eyes are fail-safe and do not consume electricity.
“We don’t err on intelligence collection, we may not have gadgets and high technology, but we are not far behind,” Padilla said. “Many other countries work with us for information about terrorist groups.”
The military believes that citizens’ participation to look out and report suspicious activities are crucial because the AFP has only 125,000 personnel looking after the welfare of 100 million Filipinos.
He said the PNP has more personnel than the military because its manpower grows as the population increases.
“These capabilities start from employing the military and the police,” Padilla said. “But later on, in the context of more proactive way to combat terrorism, [these capabilities entail] the whole-of-government and a whole-of-a-nation approach.”
He said this is true in Southern Mindanao, where the borders with neighboring countries are porous and where extremists and radical are able to get in and out without fear of getting arrested.
“We need the cooperation of the whole of the government, particularly those dealing with border matters,” Padilla said. “Those that enforce our laws like, customs, immigration, maritime police, Navy and Coast Guard have to be strengthened.”
Image credits: Nonie Reyes