Safety first

It’s okay to talk about fighting "global terrorism". All the world's a stage, and such a portentous topic segues us into the world picture. But what our people worry most about is "neighborhood terrorism".

Of course, we must fight terrorism and terrorist infiltration in Mindanao, and elsewhere in our archipelago. Yet, what threatens the daily lives of our peaceful citizens is what is more urgent and immediate.

For instance, the streets of Metro Manila are increasingly unsafe. Most people, despite all the media hype and nationalistic or even Leftist incantations, aren’t concerned that the Americans could be sneaking some provision into the drafty Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) permitting them to establish "bases" in the Philippines in one form or another. Why, the latest IBON survey even confirms that, with the Americans around, most Filipinos feel safer. The threat in almost everybody’s mind lies not in budding US "imperialism", but in the everyday perils posed by robbers, hold-up men, akyat-bahay hoodlums, and other aggressive criminal types.

Take those restaurant and small eatery hold-ups, which have been occurring all over Metro Manila, from Quezon City to San Juan and Makati. The other night, for example, the Port Area Grill at P. Guevarra was invaded by armed men, who stripped the diners of their cash, other valuables, and, of course, their cellphones. Then there was the Harbor City restaurant, a Chinese eatery, along Wilson street, right near Cardinal Santos Medical Center and West Greenhills, also in San Juan. In the same neighborhood, the Mann Hann Chinese restaurant – also on Wilson street – was robbed in similar fashion two months ago. A drugstore in Kamuning was robbed as well Wednesday night.

An internet café in Makati was robbed and its customers divested of everything three weeks ago. The list goes on and on. The armed brigands come and go with impunity. The establishments "attacked" don’t raise a fuss, because, on top of their woes, they don’t want bad publicity. This conspiracy of fear-induced or embarrassed silence has obviously emboldened the criminal gangs to insolently pursue their ever-expanding rampage.

It’s no safer to drive along Metro Manila’s streets in broad daylight. Last Sunday, a businessman and his family were driving down Quirino Avenue, near the airport, not far from Roxas boulevard and the Coastal highway. When their car stopped at a red light, three armed men descended on it, forced the occupants to open their doors, and stripped them of everything valuable, including their cellphones. The following day, a nephew of the same victim was driving in Malate, Manila, also in broad daylight. His car was halted at a street corner by armed men, and he, too, was robbed. Incidents similar to these are surely occurring all over the place, with the victims either reluctant to publicize their plight, or too scared to make an issue of it – lest the bullies come back at them, this time with violence.Admittedly, we’ve been seeing more of a uniformed police presence in the past couple of weeks in certain key areas of our metropolis. But there’s something wrong. The cops don’t seem to be catching the robbers —- or even deterring their depredations with a show of police presence. And, when night falls, the cops seem, as usual, to disappear into the sunset.

Perhaps, when US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrives tonight for his day-and-a-half visit, our officials ought to suggest to him that we hold a Balikatan for Metro Manila — and include in that exercise this mysterious "black" soldier "identified" by the Leftists and the foreign "human rights" observers who’ve descended on us like a plague of locusts as "Reggie Lane". If it’s true that this guy shot Abu suspect Buyong Buyong Isnijal in the thigh, in Tuburan, Basilan, as his tearful wife Juraida keeps on telling the press, perhaps his very presence might scare the restaurant-robbers and roving street bullies away. If our lawmen were more vigorous – and, indeed, trigger-happy – those thugs now scaring citizens out of their wits would think twice about their armed intrusions.

The President spoke about imposing peace and order in her State of the Nation Address (SONA). Obviously, the robber gangs didn’t listen to her speech. Or, if they did, they dismissed it as sheer puffery. Alas, GMA, we’re not a "strong republic". We’re a scared republic.

* * *

According to a wire service dispatch – by Agence France Presse – from Bandar Seri Begawan, the new Secretary General of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Mr. Ong Keng Yong of Singapore – wants to rectify what he called a "distorted image" of Southeast Asia which is defeating efforts to woo investors and tourists.

The trouble is that when he enumerated the sorry incidents that had given ASEAN an undesirable image in other continents, many of them were typical of what is taking place in our Philippines. Ong remarked that persons abroad tend to have the impression that the ASEAN region is "reeling from riots or kidnappings" when, in fact, such cases are "isolated". Oops. We can’t claim we don’t have riots in our country. As for kidnappings – well, how can we deny them? In short, it seems we’re the nation sort of giving ASEAN a bad name.

The incoming ASEAN Sec-Gen, who’s succeeding our own Secretary-General Rod Severino (who I believe did a creditable job in that post) seems an interesting fellow. He "read law in Singapore" (to use that veddy veddy English expression) before obtaining a graduate degree in Arab studies from Georgetown University, the same Jesuit university in Washington, DC from where President Macapagal-Arroyo and subsequently her daughter Luli graduated. But he’s embarked on a mission impossible. For starters, there will be fewer investors in Southeast Asia than ever, given the downturn in the economy of the United States where – as both the Financial Times and the International Herald Tribune revealed yesterday – the economy slowed sharply in the second quarter as imports and weaker domestic demand restrained output growth. The official figures released by the US Department of Commerce Wednesday were "much lower than most analysts had expected" and also indicated that last year’s recession in the US "was more severe than previously reported".

As for Wall street, in the wake of the Enron, WorldCom and other "infectious greed" scandals, it’s in disarray.

Western Europe, another traditional source of investment, is witnessing a dismaying economic downturn – with consumer and business confidence sliding in Germany, France, and Britain, which are normally the economic and financial powerhouses of that area.

Moreover, if there’s any loose capital still rattling around or industries seeking a "home", these will mostly be going to China where labor is cheap, the government is "cooperative", and crime at least ostensibly held in check.

As for tourism, the Southeast Asian countries that are popular among pleasure-seekers are already thriving to the maximum of their capability. We in the Philippines had better forget that industry; we’re neither a safe, welcoming nor hospitable place – so let’s stop kidding ourselves. Until Filipinos once more feel safe enough to go out to patronize restaurants in their own neighborhoods, why should we foolishly expect tourists to come here to eat – or to have fun? Our notoriety as the "kidnap capital" of Asia has soiled our reputation all over this planet. For example, following the conclusion of the World Cup matches there, some 1.8 million South Koreans hurried off to the airport to enjoy belated holidays abroad. Very few of these holidaymakers came to Manila – or even to Boracay where they traditionally used to flock. The murder of a Korean diplomat and other incidents involving Koreans have contrived to turn away potential visitors from "The Land of the Morning Calm". This just goes to show how a few punks and violent gangsters can do substantial harm to a nation’s prospects.

The trouble is, out of our government’s desperation to attract "tourists", I hear the Department of Foreign Affairs is being instructed to waive visa requirements for tourists coming from the Chinese mainland. Whaat? It’s worrisome enough that so many thousands of Chinese from the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan have managed to get into our country not merely as illegal immigrants, but some even as Triad gangsters involved in drug smuggling or manufacture and other underworld pursuits. Now, we have to contend with a flood of Chinese who’ve not been "vetted" or their credentials previously subjected to scrutiny through the visa requirement route? Think of the danger to national security and the national economy! Madam President: Rescind that "order," please. The boosters of the idea grandiosely claim it will attract 11 million Chinese "tourists". Yeah. And many of them will stay here. Before we know it, they’ll have taken over the place – including the rackets.

* * *

With Powell arriving here tonight, it may be timely to recall what he said at the annual dinner of the Asian Society in New York last June 10. The address he delivered provided an "overview" of his ideas regarding Asia-Pacific security as well as economic issues.

In the course of his remarks, Powell declared: "The Armed Forces of the Philippines fight courageously against indigenous terrorist organizations that clearly have international ties. I am proud, so proud, that American forces are helping train and equip their Philippine Army counterparts to combat groups such as Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist organization which regularly kidnaps, as you know too well, civilians for ransom."

He mentioned that "tragically, despite the best efforts of the government of the Philippines to secure a safe release" of the hostages earlier held by the Abu Sayyaf, namely missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap, "in the firefight that followed" Martin and Yap died, while Gracia Burnham was wounded. "Mrs. Burnham ", Powell noted, "is now back in her home in Kansas. And wonderful, gracious lady that she is, despite the loss of her husband, and despite what she must have gone through over the past year, she was gracious enough in her grief to express her appreciation and admiration for what the Philippine government had done."

"Vicious groups like Abu Sayyaf stop at nothing," Powell averred. "They fear no one. The murderous example of Abu Sayyaf shows how right President Bush has been to lead a global campaign against all terrorists, all forms of terrorism, and not just against the al-Qaida."

The truth is that – for all the ranting and raving now going on in the usual sectors – we didn’t join Mr. Bush’s or General Powell’s "global campaign against all terrorists." In point of fact, they joined the fight we have been waging for many years now against the Abus and other terrorists. We have, on two opposite walls of our STAR offices, a collection of framed front pages dating back to the foundation of our newspaper. One banner headline, dated 1992, says that more Philippine Army troops were being dispatched to Basilan to fight the Abu Sayyaf "terrorists". That was long before 9/11 in the year 2001.

That having been said, we thank Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster and the American soldiers and servicemen who came to help us in Basilan and Zamboanga. During their Balikatan stint over there, Basilan enjoyed a period of comparable peace – and a resurgence of confidence and hope. The Basilan folk, I’m told by our correspondents on the ground, were sad to see most of that contingent leaving, and are happy that at least some of them will remain.

I think that Colin Powell, when he gets here, for all the noise and angry invectives that may issue from some quarters, will realize that he is among friends. We’ve even learned to laugh at the outbursts of arrogance and symptoms of "superpower" conceit that some Americans – like the legions of Imperial Rome in their days of Pax Romana and Mare Nostrum – occasionally exhibit. There are no false smiles here. We expect, of course, sincerity in return.

Powell, a professional soldier himself for 35 years, comes here as the 65th Secretary of State of the US. He is a man who has proven his worth as a patriot in the service of his country. He seems to me a man to whom our leaders and our people can speak – heart to heart.

I’m sorry I can’t say the same thing about some strident-voiced blowhards we find dominating the scene in the Republican Party.