Articles / References

This refers to the SONA of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo which gave some emphasis on the fight against terrorism. We submit tat this fight is more insidious than any subversion problem we have faced in the past in this country. Thoe whole world is its battlefield and there are no neutral countries in this war.

In the Philippines terrorism, piracy, smuggling and maritime sovereignty issues are very serious concerns and timely action is called for. It is estimated that one-half of the world's merchant fleet, more than one-half of the supertanker traffic, two-thirds of the world's liquefied natural gas (LNG) traffic, and the increasing container and cruise liner traffic pass through the area west of Palawan and east of Mindanao. This is an area that is ripe for a serious incident in the near future, whether on piracy, sea-jacking or huge oil spills.

Our consulting firm, Martillano, Lansangan, Domingo and Associates, together with Mr. Peter Flewwelling, our Canadian consultant partner, has offered to the Government, through Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo a monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) system to regain control of the seas and prevent its rampant use by the enemies of the State. In a situation where floating assets are few, a vessel monitoring system (VMS) will optimize the use of scarce assets and yet provide an effective defense system that can greatly minimize the recurrence of the situation wherein the enemy freely uses the seas for their nefarious activities.

The process includes a funding strategy that cannot be ignored by the Coalition of Nations Against Terrorism. One might also note that the proposal could fit into the strategy for the next Philippines-US collaboration against terrorism. The proposed solution involves the President's initiative for the funding proposal to benefit first, the Philippines; and second, the members of the tripartite agreement for peace and security, namely, Indonesia and Malaysia. It also includes an option for the expansion of the plan throughout Southeast Asia.

An initial Philippine seed funding of approximately US$2M with the objective of seeking the rest of the needed US$329M for the three countries, from the Coalition of Nations Against Terrorism, and possibly including Japan, is doable. In our estimate the gain is approximately US$90M for the Philippines in terms of assets.

We are seeking your help to inform the public of this possibility. We would like to contribute our efforts to the Government of the Philippines. We are ready to discuss with you the details of this project anytime at your convenience.

The magnitude of the World Trade Center attack shocked the whole world to the realization that terrorists will not stop at anything to inflict untold destruction to the complacent world. Today, even the strongest nation in the world feels so vulnerable despite its formidable military forces. There is a need to be united to face squarely this new menace. Whether we like it or not, we are involved in the fight against terrorists, as President Macapagal-Arroyo must have concluded when she decided to support President Bush in the decision to go on an all-out war against terrorists. This war knows no boundaries and the whole world is its battlefield.

Today's terrorism is more insidious than any subversion problem we, in this country, have faced in the past. It would now appear, according to media sources, that a well-organized network of militant Muslims operating in the Philippines and nearby countries had a role in the World Trade Center attack. Small bands of kidnap-for-ransom gangs, like the Abu Sayyaf Groups, although seemingly operating independently from al Qaeda or the Jemaah Islamiyah, could possibly develop far reaching ties with these well organized groups.

It is disconcerting to note that our own bands of terrorists have shown how they have wantonly used the seas for their nefarious activities. The Dos Palmas attack and the subsequent 20-hour trip to Basilan undetected is a grim example of the need for a system that could have thwarted the enemy operations. Similarly, the Sipadan kidnapping and subsequent transport of victims to various Tawi-Tawi and Sulu islands unchallenged, shows the virtual helplessness of Government forces due to lack of information. Other incidents like the Indonesian tugboat crew who were snatched from the sea and are now held hostage for ransom, and the very large bulk carrier which was continually threatened by fast boats west of Luzon in broad daylight, are indicative of what the enemies of the State can do to disrupt normal shipping operations in our territorial waters. No less than a superior system of monitoring the movement of vessels and watercraft in our surrounding seas can solve this problem.

Our consulting firm, Martillano, Lansangan, Domingo and Associates, together with Mr. Flewwelling, our Canadian Consultant partner, decided that we should help the Government. Our proposed solution is basically simple, i.e., to propose a scheme that can return control of our seas to the Government, and establish cooperation and alliance in the fight against terrorism with our immediate neighbors, Indonesia and Malaysia. Additionally, the scheme will also allow the Philippine Government to take care of some of the problems that need to be addressed under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982 (UNCLOS) which are due by November 2004. Some of these are the drawing of the archipelagic base lines, archipelagic sea lanes, entry-exit points to the sea lanes and those that limit the area in which foreign shipping can meander on each side of the sea lanes.

The Government has lost strategic and tactical control over the territorial seas, and has not even begun to initiate any semblance control over the Exclusive Economic Zone in accordance with UNCLOS 1982.

The growing serious concerns of the Philippine Government for terrorism, piracy in the high seas, smuggling of humans and prohibited drugs, and other nefarious activities that freely use the territorial seas and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) are the glaring symptoms of the fact that Government forces have lost control of the seas and can not, therefore, deny their use by the enemies of the State.

With vast areas of water to monitor and control on the one hand, and a scarcity of floating assets on the other, a system must be found which can enhance the present capabilities for effective monitoring and control functions, thus limiting the movements of the enemies of the State in the use of the seas, particularly the backdoors.

Safety of shipping that pass through the area west of Palawan and east of Mindanao is of great importance, considering that one-half of the world's merchant fleet, more than one-half of the supertanker traffic, two-thirds of the world's liquefied natural gas (LNG) traffic, and the increasing container and cruise liner traffic use these passages everyday. These are areas that are ripe for serious sea-jacking, piracy, smuggling of humans and prohibited drugs, and huge oil spills in the near future.

The solution is to provide a national, thence a regional 24 hours/seven days a week maritime peace and security monitoring and rapid response mechanism directed towards all vessel traffic above 3 meters and 3 gross tons in the waters around the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia.

The initiative intends to build on the peace and security agreement between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia as the starting point, the formation subsequently of a Southeast Asia Peace and Security Alliance (SEAPaSA), and then to expand to other Southeast Asian countries which may want to join the Alliance.

1. All maritime vessels, including fishing vessels, will be required to carry a certified vessel monitoring system (VMS) transponder/automatic location communication (ALC) linked to a satellite system, or other location system (VHF or Cellular Communications locators) to monitor vessel traffic.

2. The system will be further supported by a satellite imagery system to rapidly identify any vessel entering the area that has no transponder. All information and data are monitored by a central regional information base, staffed by representatives of member countries, and thence passed on to the national centers for rapid response action as appropriate.

Outstanding issues under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea will be addressed particularly on boundaries of the territorial waters, archipelagic sea lanes, and entry-exit points allowed by the archipelago;

It has been estimated that the Philippines has been losing billions of pesos worth of fish that poachers have carried away from our fishing grounds in the north (by Taiwanese poachers) and in the Sulu Sea, Tawi-Tawi, Davao and Cotabato areas, by Chinese, Japanese fisherman and others. These poachers even unload their catch at our fishing ports, paying only minimal port charges but profiting handsomely from the fish caught in our fishing grounds.

With the avowed cooperation expressed by the President of the Philippines to support fully the anti-terrorism objectives of President Bush, President Macapagal-Arroyo has this opportunity to lead the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia in putting up the infrastructure to promote maritime peace and security in the region, particularly the seas between and surrounding the three (3) countries. Certainly this is an act that is peaceful in character, but relevant in controlling and stamping out terrorism and other nefarious activities, while promoting regional cooperation for maritime peace and security.

The initiative intends to build on the peace and security agreement between the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia as the starting point, thence the formation of the Southeast Asia Peace and Security Alliance (SEAPaSA) and later to expand it to other ASEAN countries. The funding strategy that cannot be ignored by the Coalition of Nations Against Terrorism is included. Additionally, the proposal could fit into the strategy for the next Philippine - U.S. Collaboration against terrorism.

An initial small amount of seed funding would be required of the Philippine Government, with the objective of seeking the rest of the needed total funding for the three countries from the Coalition of Nations Against Terrorism, and possibly including Japan, is reasonable and achievable. The country stands to gain much more assets than the seed funds.

This initial fund will be able to gather the national and international experts who will fast track the inception mission for project implementation. This approval for fast tracking the implementation could be reviewed at every turn as the feasibility and design phase moves forward.

The success of the Project will depend largely on the level of support of the President of the Philippines. This is our proposal in brief. A more detailed write up has been presented to the Executive Secretary for his evaluation and for the President's approval.

In a world in turmoil each country has to decide on its own which way to go in every major decision in international affairs. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo once again chose to support President Bush's moves against terrorism and the threat of chemical and biological strikes from Saddam Hussein. She has stood firm on the conviction that the world must fight terrorism at whatever cost and the Philippines must stand up to be counted.

Southeast Asia has been tagged as the “second front” in the war against terrorism, most particularly the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. The recent news that there are many undocumented aliens in the country is worrisome considering that there are reports that al Qaeda has in the past used some of the MILF's camps for training purposes.

Is it just possible that our backdoors (Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Mindanao) are so wide open that terrorists freely come and go undetected? There is hardly any information from the guardians of our seas (Navy and Coast Guard) reporting such terrorist movements crossing territorial boundaries with neighboring countries. Again, is it because there are no such movements? Or is it because there is no existing system to monitor such movements? These are serious questions that need to be answered.

The Sipadan kidnapping and the Dos Palmas raid illustrate clearly the seeming utter helplessness of the Government forces to effectively counter the enemy movements. The perpetrators were never detected, much less monitored, in their voyages from the scenes of the crime to Basilan, and later on to Zambonga del Norte. The Indonesian tugboat crew and the four women of the Jehovah's Witnesses are still held captive by the terrorists. Even the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf band are already back in Basilan, surely with vengeance in mind. They continue to use the seas freely.

To have a feel of world wide threats to shipping one may just visit the Maritime Security Council website at www.maritimesecurity.org or by e-mail at mscalert@maritimesecurity.org. Terrorism in the high seas occur all over the world.

We have proposed a system of monitoring, controlling and surveilling (MCS) our territorial waters and even beyond to the Philippine Government through the Executive Secretary. The MCS system is designed to provide information on the movements of enemy watercraft or vessels on all critical points, particularly domestic and international shipping lanes, in focal areas, fishing grounds, and any sensitive areas we choose to focus our attention. In tandem with such MCS system are Rapid Response Teams (RRT) composed of fast boats and aircraft that are on call for immediate investigation of suspected enemy targets. Todate, the office of the Executive Secretary has not given any indication whether or not the Government is interested in the MCS System.

The System has to be designed specifically for the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia, the three countries that have been tagged as the “second front” by the United States. The proposed MCS intends to build upon the peace and security arrangements already put in place by the three countries as a starting point. Later, it can be expanded to include other ASEAN countries to form a Southeast Asia Peace and Security Alliance (SEAPaSA). One of the benefits of a multi-nation MCS System is the ease of passing any “hot pursuit” information to the neighboring country for a coordinated apprehension situation. And there are many other benefits detailed in our proposal.

An initial seed money is needed to finance the customized design of the system to be completed within four months of the “go signal.” With the leadership of President Macapagal-Arroyo the Project Design can be presented to possible funders, specifically the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and even Japan. Our foreign partners-consultants have access to funding institutions and the only requirement is the approval of the Philippine Government to fund the customized design of the system, thus showing the way to the two countries in putting the System in place. The project will make it possible for the Philippines to obtain much needed fast boats and aircraft for the Rapid Response Teams.

The Government must take advantage of opportunities to fight terrorism in our own backyard with the help of the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. Only the leadership and initiative of President Macapagal-Arroyo can promote this project because it needs diplomatic handling of the highest order, involving in the process Malaysia and Indonesia.