This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 31, September 11-17, 2005
Carabao-Kangaroo
Defense Ties
The Australian government will
increase military assistance to the Philippines for counter-terrorism and
coastal watch. Additional assistance will be in the form of surveillance
equipment and ships to support the Philippines secure its marine borders against
“terrorism.”
By
Caesar Ben Basan Baroña SYDNEY, Australia - The
Australian government will increase military assistance to the Philippines for
counter-terrorism and coastal watch. Additional assistance will be in the form
of surveillance equipment and ships to support the Philippines secure its marine
borders against “terrorism.” This developed as
Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said in a recent TV interview here
that his government’s Federal Police last June sent police and intelligence unit
to the Philippines to probe into the alleged links between the suspected
extremist group, Abu Sayyaf, and the Jemayah Islamiyah (JI), said to be a secret
network of “terrorists” in Southeast Asia. Tony Hely, Australian
ambassador to Manila, was quoted last week as saying, “We’re working
collectively and effectively with each other to build up the Philippines'
capacity to eradicate terrorism." In a statement following a
two-day meeting between Australian and Philippine defense officials in Manila,
Hely also said that his country will help the Philippines meet international
security standards in guarding its seaports in the southern Philippines. Foreign
Islamic militants are believed to have teamed up with local jihadists, he added. The two-day meeting, which
began Aug. 23, aimed to expand defense cooperation including military training
and was headed by Philippine Defense Undersecretary Alejandro Melchor and
Australian Defense Assistant Minister Ben Coleman. Military experts and planners
also joined the meeting. The two countries also
discussed “reform initiatives in the Philippine military to which Australia has
signified interest and support,” it was learned. After the United States,
Australia is the second largest foreign provider of training to the Philippine
military. It has offered military training for 70 officers of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines (AFP) under Canberra's A$2.5 million (or US$1.8 million)
defense cooperation program for the Philippines. Soon, it will also open 80
extra training slots for Filipino troops over the next year, reportedly to boost
the country's counter-terrorism and maritime security capabilities. The Philippines can also
tap into the A$40.3 million Regional Counter-Terrorism Package budget set aside
by Canberra for 2005-2006. Mindanao Meanwhile, Philippine
Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz revealed that an Australian team of experts would
be sent to Mindanao to review the security situation and study equipment needs
in order for the military to patrol Philippine borders. Aside from surveillance
equipment, other prospective military assistance includes long-range patrol
aircraft, a modern radar system and a fleet of faster ships. The Philippines and
Australia signed a defense cooperation agreement in 1995. The two countries have
a bilateral relationship on counter-terrorism. In this connection, Australian
federal police have been reportedly deployed in Manila to help in
counter-terrorism training. In addition to these is
cooperation between agencies of both countries, including the AFP and the
Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO), Philippine National Police
(PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI). Aside from financing and
logistics, cooperation involves intelligence sharing and capability training.
Australia helps finance a Center on Transnational Crime. The defense cooperation is
ostensibly in pursuit of terrorists. Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer defines terrorists as "unlawful combatants," meaning those that cannot be
classified as "people who take up arms in an army and wear a uniform" and
therefore the Geneva Conventions (on the "rules of war") do not apply to them,
according to him. Earlier on Aug. 11-12,
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo led a delegation to
Australia for the Inaugural Philippines-Australia Ministerial Meeting (PAMM). While in Sydney, Romulo and
Downer strengthened government-to-government talks and signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) that, among others, would formalize bilateral ministerial
consultations for at least every two years. They also adopted an Action Plan on
Philippine-Australia relations that covers specific understandings on bilateral
cooperation in the areas of security and economic cooperation. In the meeting, the
Philippine and Australian ministers agreed to establish inter-agency
counter-terrorism consultations at the senior official level to further enhance
security cooperation. “To strengthen and better
coordinate cooperation in addressing the pressing issue of terrorism, we
announced our commitment to establish a bilateral mechanism that will harness
the full potentials of inter-agency consultation and coordination on
counter-terrorism,” Romulo said. “Acknowledging our gain in
the war on terrorism, Australia agreed to double its assistance to us on
counter-terrorism to A$10M (US$7.5M). We also agreed to broaden our cooperation
on border security and on fighting transnational crimes, including piracy and
human trafficking,” the foreign secretary said. AFP
training Defense cooperation between
the two countries has centered on training of the AFP. In the 1995 defense
cooperation agreement, both countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
that broadened the defense relationship to allow access to each other's military
facilities, exchange intelligence information and conduct cooperative
undertakings in military science and technology. In the aftermath of the
Sept. 11, 2001 bombings in the U.S. and the Bali bombings in 2002 that killed
several Australian tourists, the Philippines and Australia signed a bilateral
MoU on Cooperation to Combat International Terrorism in March 2003. This was
followed by another MoU on combating transnational crime, linking the Australian
Federal Police and the Philippine National Police, also in 2003. In his state visit to the
Philippines in July 2003, Australian Prime Minister John Howard pledged a
three-year, A$5 million package for counter-terrorism assistance to the
Philippine Government. This was doubled in October 2004 to A$10 million over a
five-year period. Australia also has trade
and mining interests in the Philippines. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
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Australia Steps Up Military Aid to Philippines
Bulatlat