Philippine Gov't Backs US On Iraq, Fears Sympathy Attacks
Patrick Goodenough
Pacific Rim Bureau Chief
Along with opposition in the domestic political arena, President Gloria Arroyo's government also faces the danger of sympathy attacks from Muslim militants. And there are concerns that Filipinos working in the Middle East may become caught up directly or indirectly in hostilities.
The State Department Tuesday included the Philippines in a list of 30 countries it said were willing to publicly associate themselves with a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq -- although not all would participate militarily.
Arroyo held an emergency national security council (NSC) meeting late Tuesday that agreed, in national security advisor Roilo Golez's words, to give "political and moral support to efforts to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction."
But presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said afterwards the government was also backing the concept of "giving diplomacy a last chance," which suggested that, at this stage, Manila was walking a fine line between supporting Bush's ultimatum, and supporting an actual war.
Arroyo admitted in a radio interview later that achieving a "very definite consensus" at the meeting had been "hard."
Among those attending the NSC meeting were two consistent critics of Arroyo's anti-terror cooperation with the U.S., Vice President Teofisto Guingona and Senator Manuel Villar, chairman of the Senate's foreign relations committee.
Guingona, who resigned as foreign minister last year to protest U.S.-Philippines military maneuvers targeting Muslim terrorists in the south of the country, suggested that any support the Philippine government gave to a war would be illegal.
Villar said of the U.S. it was dangerous for one country to act as the world's policeman.
"Although its objectives are sometimes noble and good, it is perilous to grant too much power to one nation," he said, adding that the U.S. could have held of a conflict for another month or two to give the United Nations more time to resolve the crisis peacefully.
The critics faced a powerful argument from the man who succeeded Guingona as foreign secretary, Blas Ople, who delivered a statement to the NSC meeting calling the impending conflict "a just war."
Ople recounted the damage caused by terrorists in the Philippines and elsewhere in the region in places like Bali, even without access to weapons of mass destruction.
"If a sadistic regime in Iraq passes these weapons to the hands of terrorist groups - which inevitably Saddam will do - including those in the Philippines, the capacity for harm coming from international terrorism will be magnified thousands of times."
Islamic or communist rebel groups in the Philippines, armed with such weapons, would be able to hold the government hostage and promote their avowed aim to overthrow it by force, he said.
Ople said while the Philippines would not send combat troops to participate in a war, it may, if requested, offer the coalition forces its airspace and port facilities.
Manila also proposed sending a post-war humanitarian mission, including medical staff and peacekeepers, he said.
"We reject the notion that the Philippines should sit on the fence and do nothing in the face of the crisis in Iraq."
Ople called on all political parties to rally around the support the president at this time.
Earlier, the House of Representatives had considered a resolution urging Arroyo to remain neutral about Iraq, so as "not to jeopardize not only our economic targets but also the lives and limbs of our countrymen in the Middle East and here in the Philippines."
Danger at home and abroad
Around 1.5 million Filipinos work in the Middle East, including 60,000 in Kuwait alone. The government said it was doing its best to ensure they were kept out of harm's way, in cooperation with U.N. and other agencies.
Most of the 120 or so Filipinos based in Iraq were evacuated some weeks ago.
In a statement, Arroyo said the overseas Filipino workers in the region should get in touch with Philippine embassies, which will provide them with the help and information they need.
She said she did not see any serious threat to the overseas Filipino workers but called on them and Filipinos at home to be "calm, but vigilant and alert."
With several militant Muslim groups active in the southern Philippines, the government this week further increased already tight security, for fear extremists may mount attacks in sympathy with Iraq once war begins.
Arroyo called on all citizens to work together with the armed forces and police to safeguard communities.
"We must be pro-active against collateral terrorist attacks," she said.
Arroyo challenged the view - also widely aired by government critics in countries like Britain and Australia - that allies of the U.S. were opening themselves up to terrorist attack for their support.
Speaking to a Manila radio station, she pointed to the worst terrorist attack anywhere since Sept. 11, 2001, the bombing of nightclubs on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.
That attack came despite the fact Indonesia was not a supporter of the U.S. campaign against terror, Arroyo said.
"Terrorist acts are happening all over the world. They don't really choose pro- or anti-America, they just look at soft targets ..."
In recent months, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) has mounted a steady stream of attacks on infrastructure, civilians and troops in the south, while the smaller Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has also launched attacks against soldiers.
The communist New People's Army has also carried out raids, amid reports of NPA-MILF cooperation and, separately, teamwork between the ASG and elements of the MILF.
Recently, a group calling itself the Rajah Sulaiman Movement threatened to carry out bombings in the capital if the U.S. attacks Iraq.
A bombing this month at the Davao City airport claimed 21 lives, including that of an American missionary, while a U.S. soldier and several Filipinos were killed in another bomb blast in Zamboanga last October.
Small groups of U.S. military advisors have been providing local forces with anti-terror training, including a landmark, six-month joint exercise targeted the ASG last year.
Another joint mission was planned for this year, but has been put on hold after constitutional problems were raised over foreign forces taking part in combat on Philippine soil.
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