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DE RUEHML #2762/01 3570833
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O 220833Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY MANILA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2737
INFO RHHMUNA/CDRUSPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS MANILA 002762 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/CT: RHONDA SHORE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER ASEC RP
SUBJECT: PHILIPPINES: 2008 COUNTRY REPORT ON TERRORISM 
 
REF: STATE 120019 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  The Philippines remains a key partner of the 
United States in our bilateral and multilateral 
counterterrorism efforts.  As in recent years, during 2008, 
terrorist groups active in the Philippines included the Abu 
Sayyaf Group (ASG), Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), the New People's 
Army (NPA), and Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM).  Partly due to 
special historical ties, the Philippine government maintains 
a robust and cooperative relationship with the Mission via a 
diverse array of bilateral counterterrorism programs with 
multiple USG agencies.  U.S. intelligence, reconnaissance, 
and surveillance support Armed Forces of the Philippines' 
operations against terrorist elements in the southern 
Philippines, while U.S. Department of Justice 
criminal-investigation and antiterrorism programs trained 
approximately 5,000 police and other security personnel 
during the year.  Implementation of the Coastwatch South 
program continues to move ahead; its radar stations and 
sea-surface and aerial assets will dramatically improve the 
government's oversight of the "Terrorist Transit Triangle" 
region bordered by the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia. 
The Department of Homeland Security Immigration and Customs 
Enforcement's newly-developed Philippine Biometric Initiative 
has provided Philippine National Police with fingerprints, 
photographs, and other information on 130 suspected 
terrorists.  With significant U.S. assistance, Philippine 
security forces have continued to make progress against 
terrorist groups, killing 35 terrorists and capturing another 
16 during the first half of 2008.  Those apprehended included 
an RSM founder and two bomb-makers in Mindanao.  End-of-year 
statistics will be reported septel in January, per reftel 
instructions.  END SUMMARY. 
 
------------------ 
General Assessment 
------------------ 
 
¶2.  Terrorist threats facing the Philippines include the Abu 
Sayyaf Group (ASG), Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), Communist Party of 
the Philippines/New Peoples Army (CPP/NPA), and Rajah 
Solaiman Movement (RSM), all of which are designated as 
Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs) by the United States. 
The U.S. counterterrorism strategy of offering development 
opportunities in areas at-risk for terrorist recruitment 
continues to marginalize the small remaining numbers of ASG 
and JI terrorists from Muslim insurgents in the southern 
Philippines.  While the 5,000-strong NPA continues to disrupt 
public security and business operations with intermittent 
attacks on communicatiosn and transportation infrastructure 
throughout the Philippines, it continues to decline in 
personnel and effectiveness.  However, the NPA remainins 
steadfast in its refusal to accept President Arroyo's broad 
amnesty overtures, turning down offers to negotiate unless 
its U.S. and international designation as a terrorist 
organization is rescinded.  RSM maintains close links to ASG 
and JI, and is alleged to have been responsible for multiple 
attacks in the Philippines.  Embassy Manila worked closely 
with Philippine officials on the designation of the Rajah 
Solaiman Movement as a terrorist organization by the UN 1267 
Committee, and in early 2008, RSM was included in the UN 1267 
Committee sanctions list.  This has led to the freezing of 
RSM bank accounts and real estate.  In addition to the above 
groups, the Alex Boncayao Brigade (ABB) and the "Pentagon 
Gang" are on the U.S. Terrorist Exclusion List, although 
during 2008, there were no known terrorist acts attributed to 
these two groups in the Philippines, and most ABB members 
enjoy amnesty resulting from a 2000 peace agreement. 
 
--------------------- 
Safe Haven Assessment 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  Philippine military and law enforcement agencies 
conducted intensive civil-military and internal security 
operations to eliminate terrorist safe havens in the Sulu 
Archipelago and central Mindanao.  In the first half of the 
year, they captured and arrested 16 terrorists and killed 35. 
 Statistics for the second half of the year are still being 
compiled and will be submitted in a supplemental report.  In 
July, Ruben Pestano Lavilla, Jr., a leader and founding 
member of the RSM, was arrested in Bahrain and deported to 
the Philippines.  In December, the Court of Appeals ordered 
the trial of RSM founder Hiliarion "Ahmad" Santos and other 
suspected RSM members for their alleged involvement in 
multiple bombings and kidnappings in the Philippines during 
2005 and 2006. 
 
¶4.  The passage of the Human Security Act (HSA) in 2007 was a 
significant step in the modernization of tools available to 
Philippine law enforcement for use against terrorists.  The 
Act permits wiretapping of members of judicially-designated 
terrorist organizations, and financial investigations of 
individuals connected to terrorist organizations.  However, 
the law's tight restrictions have limited its actual 
application.  The key difficulty in implementing the law is 
that stiff fines will be imposed on the law enforcement 
agency for violating a suspect's rights if the accused is 
later acquitted or the case is dismissed (fines are 
approximately $1,000 USD per day for the entire period of 
detention).  The Act did, however, provide for the 
establishment of an Anti-Terrorism Council to effectively 
implement anti-terorism efforts in the country and ensure 
interagency cooperation.  The Council focused its first 
year's efforts in building the organizational and 
administrative infrastructure necessary to facilitate closer 
cooperation between Council members and supporting agencies. 
Limited financial resources, inadequate salaries, low morale, 
limited cooperation between police and prosecutors, 
corruption, and other problems of law enforcement have 
hampered bringing terrorists to justice. 
 
----------------------- 
Terrorist Organizations 
----------------------- 
 
¶5.  The Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) is a violent splinter group of 
the Moro National Liberation Movement (MNLF); some of its 
leaders fought in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. 
Its stated goal is to establish an independent Islamic state 
in western Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago.  The group is 
heavily involved in kidnappings-for-ransom, bombings, murder, 
and extortion.  A successful military and law enforcement 
campaign has killed or captured most of its leadership and 
has reduced the number of armed fighters from over 7,000 to 
approximately 300.  Most recently, ASG has still been engaged 
in a series of kidnappings-for-ransom, smuggling, protection 
rackets, and extortion crimes in Mindanao and Basilan island. 
 
¶6.  In June, popular Philippine television journalist Ces 
Drilon and three members of her crew were kidnapped by armed 
men in an isolated area of Jolo Island in the Sulu 
Archipelago, while reportedly en route to an interview with 
fugitive ASG leader Radulan Sahiron.  Drilon and the others 
were released unharmed after 10 days in captivity.  While 
media and some public officials accused the ASG of having 
masterminded these events, others suggested that Drilon's 
party had been the victims of a kidnap-for-ranson criminal 
gang with no political affiliations, and a local mayor who 
served as a negotiator for Drilon's release was afterwards 
arrested by the authorities and charged with having 
participated in the crime and personally benefited from 
ransom payments. 
 
¶7.  Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) is an Indonesian-based terrorist 
organization that seeks to establish a pan-Islamic state 
across Southeast Asia.  The group has conducted a number of 
bombings in Indonesia, including the 2002 Bali nightclub 
bombings that killed 202 persons and seriously injured more 
than 200 others. 
 
¶8.  The New People's Army (NPA), the military arm of the 
Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), has conducted a 
decades-long campaign against the Philippine government, but 
in recent years its activities have been confined mostly to 
bombing telecommunications relay stations and extorting 
"revolutionary taxes" from corporations.  The Alex Boncayao 
Brigade, which splintered from the NPA in the mid-1980s, has 
committed several murders, including that of Colonel James 
Rowe in 1987, when he was assigned to the Joint U.S. Military 
Advisory Group (JUSMAG) at the United States Embassy in 
Manila. 
 
¶9. The Rajah Solaiman Movement (RSM) recruits its members 
from Muslims who have converted from Catholicism.  Such 
recruits lack the accents and racial characteristics normally 
associated with individuals from the traditional 
conflict-affected regions of Mindanao and the Sulu 
Archipelago, making it easier for them to blend into the 
population in Manila and other large urban areas.  RSM 
members have been involved in several plots to bomb public 
utilities, tourist areas, and the U.S. Embassy in Manila. 
They are also implicated in having cooperated with ASG in the 
2005 Valentine's Day bombing in Makati City that killed eight 
people, and in the 2004 bombing of a passenger ferry that 
killed 116 people. 
 
------------------------------ 
Foreign Government Cooperation 
------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  The Embassy enjoyed excellent cooperation from 
Philippine law enforcement officials in obtaining access to 
terrorist detainees and witnesses for FBI interviews, and 
access to criminal, immigration, financial, and biographic 
records via the mechanisms established in the U.S. - 
Philippine Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT).  The 
Philippine Security Engagement Board was the primary 
mechanism for planning and coordination of nontraditional 
security issues, including counterterrorism and maritime 
security.  Through 2008, the Embassy continued to achieve 
significant progress in counterterrorism via well-coordinated 
efforts in strengthening security forces and promoting peace 
and development in Mindanao.  The Philippine government has 
been an active partner in this work, which has yielded 
excellent results in combating terrorist elements, including 
Abu Sayyaf Group, Jemaah Islamiya, and the New People's Army. 
 
¶11.  Post's Anti-Terrorism Assistance (ATA) Program continues 
to increase the capabilities of Philippine law enforcement 
agencies to detect, deter, counter, and investigate terrorist 
activities in the Philippines through carefuly-targeted and 
sequenced delivery of training courses and equipment grants. 
During 2008, ATA increased its focus on Mindanao by providing 
valuable training in a wide range of areas including 
Interdicting Terrorist Activity, Explosive Incident 
Countermeasures, Post-Blast Investigation, Advanced Computer 
Forensics, and Cellphone Forensics.  ATA also instituted a 
K-9 program of bomb-detection dogs with the Philippine 
National Police (PNP), funding U.S.-trained dogs, their 
handlers, veterinarians, and kennel facilities. 
 
¶12.  Post's U.S. Department of Justice/International Criminal 
Investigative Training Assistance Program (DOJ/ICITAP) 
trained 4,197 police personnel in 2008 and pursued police 
development efforts primarily through the Model Police 
Station Program, which trained PNP personnel at 10 stations 
in 15 critical subjects; the Maritime Police Project, which 
when completed will equip maritime police in Palawan Province 
with special patrol boats to monitor the western Sulu Sea 
bordering Malaysia; and the Southern Philippines Rule of Law 
Project, which entailed training PNP personnel in basic 
police operations and investigation techniques in Sulu 
Province. 
 
¶13.  Other 2008 programs have included Post's Department of 
Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement 
(DHS/ICE) development of the Philippine Biometrics 
Initiative, whereby fingerprints, photographs, and other 
information on suspected terrorists was collected and 
provided to the appropriate Philippine authorities.  The 
Embassy's JUSMAG unit has continued implementing the 
Coastwatch South program, which will dramatically improve 
oversight of the triborder "Terrorist Transit Triangle" with 
the use of 12-17 coastal radar sites connected by a string of 
air, ocean, and ground surveillance and interdiction assets, 
including 10 rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) and 
Forward-Looking Infrared Radar (FLIR) pods for Philippine 
Navy aircraft. 
 
¶14.  The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has 
implemented issuance of digitized, machine-readable passports 
at all of its locations.  The DFA hopes to begin issuing 
electronic passports utilizing Radio Frequency Identification 
technology in 2009.  Post's Consular Section has enjoyed 
increased coooperation from Philippine law enforcement 
officials responding to our requests for investigations and 
arrests of vendors of false documents encountered by consular 
officers, but convictions remain rare as the parties often 
work out civil settlements prior to the conclusion of a 
prosecution. 
KENNEY