The terror threat in the Philippines posed by Islamic militants is low, according to counterterrorism officials. The assurance was issued as the United States confronted a fresh terrorist threat against its citizens and interests in its shores and overseas. Bomb attacks were supposed to be staged through parcel deliveries.
Some counterterrorism officials have warned that the threat could spill over into countries with close security ties to the United States. The warning cannot be ignored in the Philippines, where American soldiers are posted in Mindanao to provide training and assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines in intelligence gathering for counterter-rorism.
While there has been no terrorist attack in this country on the scale of the ones in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, the Philippines has battled homegrown Islamist terrorism for many years before 9/11. The Abu Sayyaf, whose founding objective is the creation of a pan-Islamic state, has been attacking Christian churches and clerics since 1991. Its kidnapping sprees and raids, notably on the Zamboanga town of Ipil in 1995, have left scores of people dead and mutilated. In May 2003 it claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on the Davao International Airport that killed 21 people. A year later, it set off a bomb on the SuperFerry 14 in Manila Bay, leaving more than 100 people dead or missing.
In addition to the Abu Sayyaf, the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah terror cell has also staged attacks in this country with the help of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, with their team-up resulting in the simultaneous deadly bomb attacks on the Light Rail Transit and other spots in Metro Manila on Dec. 30, 2000.
Events in recent years have shown that even as authorities worldwide crack down on terrorism, the threat keeps resurging. In this country, the SuperFerry attack was staged just when the nation thought the Abu Sayyaf had been neutralized. While Philippine security officials have said the risk of a terrorist attack in the country is low at this time, the threat cannot be taken lightly. In this battle, the nation cannot afford to let down its guard