Worst of all is the pervasive crisis of governance and corruption. There are 7 million Muslims in the southern Philippines who have never been integrated into national life. The terrorist groups that thrive there - from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front to the Abu Sayyaf group - are the epicentre of regional terrorism.
Western intelligence is aware of at least one Jemaah Islamiah terrorist training camp in Lanao del Norte, in Mindanao, still functioning today. There may be others, in what is JI's Mantiki3 area. Although the MILF denies it is connected to JI, there is a substantial JI presence in Mindanao.
According to Philippines military sources, there could be as many as 400 to 500 Indonesians and Malaysians undergoing military training in Mindanao. Military sources confirm that the terrorists get many of their weapons from the Philippines military and that elements of the Philippines navy are routinely involved in smuggling to terrorists.
Joseph "Erap" Estrada may be a lot of things, but being labeled as "soft on terrorism" is not one of them.
Unlike Mrs. Arroyo, at least Joseph Estrada was tough on the MILF terrorists, no? Instead of just going after the Muslim terrorists in 2000 and treating it as a "law enforcement" issue, he waged war against the terrorists and those who harbor them and give them safe haven.
One of the biggest terrorist training camp (Camp Abubakar) in Asia fell on July 2000, thanks to Mr. Estrada's unrelenting efforts to fight terrorism.
But when Mrs. Arroyo came into power, what did she do? She appeased the MILF terrorists by RETURNING ALL THE TERRORIST CAMPS (including Camp Abubakar) back to the MILF and signing on to a "termporary ceasefire". Mrs. Arroyo did that because she wants to run again in 2004 and doesn't want the MILF issue hounding her.
Can you imagine George W. Bush handing over the Afghanistan Training Camps back to the Taliban and Mullah Omar?
I don't think so!
Isn't this the reason why so many of our brave Filipino military officers protested the handover of Camp Abubakar and other satellite camps back to the terrorists?
But that's what Gloria Macapagal Arroyo did. So I'm not surprised at all that JI still has training camps in Mindanao. You won't hear much from GMA on why they are not doing anything to destroy these camps because it is near the presidential elections at mabubuking na naman si GMA ("Who returned the terrorist camps to the MILF?")
Short-term political gains lang ang habol niya dito. She just doesn't want to deal with it and wants to postpone or pass the Terrorism problem along to the next administration.
The Philippines crisis is multidimensional. I recently spent a dolorous few hours with a very senior Filipino, a cosmopolitan, liberal, moderate man who has spent years at the heart of government. He told me of the grip organised crime has on Philippines politics, of how much of the national drugs trade is controlled by triads and how much money they pump into politics, and how much influence they have as a result.
He claimed the drugs trade is deeply linked back into mainland China and that the triads often work in the political interests of Beijing. He even attributed key Senate votes against continuing US bases in the Philippines in the 1990s to triad influence. Other sources say that at any one time up to 100,000 illegal immigrants from China are in the Philippines working in the drug trade.
That's the problem with these Western Journalists. They are spending too much time on these "Civil Society/PDI" types. Sino pa ba ang pinapatamaan nung "very senior, cosmopolitan, liberal, moderate" Filipino na ito kung hindi si Ping Lacson? LOL!!!
Siguro dapat tanungin na lang niya kung bakit laganap ulit ang kidnapping at corruption sa ating bansa after Estrada was removed from power.
The terrorist groups in the south have become deeply involved with organised crime and in bribing local officials. Thus the Philippines has the most deadly combination a modern state can have: terrorism intertwined with organised crime. This makes eliminating terrorism almost impossible because so many criminal and even official networks have a financial stake in it.
The consequences of all this for Australia are pretty obvious. If a regional terrorist conducts a devastating operation against Australia, or against Australians in the region, there is every chance he will have been trained in a camp in the Philippines.
I have written about that dangerous combination (terrorist-military) last year (article located here). All the details, the collusions, the coverups of the Arroyo administration to protect the corrupt military that helped install her to the presidency... nandodoon lahat.
(Why was she doing it, you ask? Because she's AFRAID of the military.)
Poe is, of course, no terrorist. But he is backed by a mixture of cronies who backed the Philippines' two worst modern presidents, Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada.
Arroyo deserves credit for turning the country around after the disastrous Estrada. But she has not championed economic reform, so the gradual slide to crisis continues.
LOL! Another smear. And what is this nonsense about GMA "turning the country around" after the disasterous estrada? Our lives did not get any better under Arroyo. In fact, she made it worse.
Corruption is worse. Unemployment is up. Business is down. Crime and kidnappings are up.
So I just don't know what Mr. Sheridan is talking about. Maybe he should try getting out more instead of spending all of his time in Makati and other Civil Society hangouts.
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