“EXPLOSIVE TRENDS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: The PHILIPPINE EXPERIENCE”

COUNTER TERRORISM: an ASIAN PERSPECTIVE December 10-13, 2013

Jakarta, Indonesia

COLONEL JOSEPH M ACOSTA MC (MNSA) The Chief Medical Corps, Armed Forces of the Philippines

The Philippines

3 Major Islands

Luzon

Visayas

Mindanao

3 Major Islands

Luzon

Visayas*

Mindanao

“ROLAND, REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE?

Roland Hayes, a famous singer in the 1920’s

Perspectives of Terrorism There are three perspectives of terrnd the general public’s

There are three perspectives of terrorism:

1. the terrorist’s

2. the victim’s

3. and the general public’s

THE TERRORIST’S

PERSPECTIVE:

“One man’s terrorist is

another man’s freedom fighter”

THE VICTIM’S PERSPECTIVE:

“A criminal with no regard for human life”

THE GENERAL PUBLIC’S

PERSPECTIVE:

“The most unstable”

“Robin Hood”

3. National Security Council data base 2013 and

4 major REFERENCES of this report:

1. 2012 CCW IED Experts Meeting in Geneva

“Philippine IED Update”

By: Jesus S. Domingo Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the UN, Geneva 23 April 2012

2. Action on Armed Violence (AOAV EVMP) Dataset 2011: Philippines

4. Civil Relations Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Country Briefing 2013)

Terrorism in Southeast Asia • April 1995: Abu Sayyaf militants raid the mostly Christian town of Ipil in southern Philippines,

killing more than 50 people after robbing banks and stores and burning the town center.

• April 2000: Abu Sayyaf gunmen seized 21 people, including Western tourists, from a Malaysian resort and took them to their Philippine stronghold on Jolo Island; most were released in exchange for millions of dollars in ransom reportedly paid by Libya.

• May 2001: Americans and other tourists were snatched from the Dos Palmas resort in the southwestern Philippine province of Palawan, started a yearlong kidnapping saga that left several hostages dead, including Americans Guillermo Sobero and Martin Burnham.

• August 2001: 33 Christian residents of Balobo village in Basilan Island are taken hostage and 10 were beheaded.

• October 2002: Triple bombings on Bali, Indonesia, kill 202, mostly foreign tourists, including 88 Australians. Police say al-Qaida helped fund the attacks.

• October 2002: A nail-laden bomb detonates in Zamboanga city in southern Philippines, killing four, including an American Green Beret. Four more bomb attacks during the month, killing 16, are blamed on Abu Sayyaf.

• August 2003: A suicide bomber attacks the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, killing 11.

February 2004: A bomb on a passenger ferry in Manila Bay killed 116 in the Philippines‘ worst terrorist strike.

April 2004: Three crewmen of a Malaysian tugboat were abducted off Malaysia's Sabah state; they

are believed to have either died of illness or killed by their captors. September 2004: A suicide bomber detonated a ton of explosives packed into a delivery van outside

the Australian Embassy in Jakarta, killing 11 and wounding 200. February 2005: Almost simultaneous bombings in Manila and two southern cities killed eight and

wounded more than 100. October 2005: Triple suicide bombers killed 20 in attacks on restaurants in Bali. January 2009: Gunmen on Jolo kidnapped three aid workers of the International Committee of the

Red Cross from Switzerland, Italy and the Philippines. They are freed separately, reportedly after ransom is paid.

July 2009: Suicide-bomber attacked on the J.W. Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in Jakarta killed seven people and wounded more than 50.*** July 2011: Filipino militants kidnap an American, her teenage son and Filipino cousin. She is freed two months later and the boy escapes in December. February 2012: Gunmen seize two tourists, one Dutch and one Swiss, in Tawi-Tawi province in southern Philippines.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, 22 May 2012 said in his speech,

“I welcome the research carried out by Action on Armed Violence [AOAV] While the use of certain explosive weapons in populated areas may, in some circumstances, fall within the confines of the law, but the humanitarian impact, both short- and long-term, can be disastrous for civilians. I therefore urge parties of conflict TO REFRAIN FROM USING EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS with a wide-area impact in densely populated areas…”

THE UN SECRETARY GENERAL’S APPEAL WAS VIOLATED

In the recent conflict of Philippine government forces with the Moro National Liberation Front or MNLF in the city of Zamboanga in Mindanao were the MNLF detonated several explosive devices that killed less than a hundred people and burned a lot of houses and buildings and several blocks of that city.

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

Jan-Mar 2013

Jun-Aug 2013

Sep-Oct 2013

No of Explosion Incidents in 2013

25

29

30

60

40

134

0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160

Jan-Mar 2013

Jun-Aug 2013

Sep-Oct 2013

No. of Explosion Incidents and Affected Individual in the Philippines 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Quarter 2013

Total Affected Individuals(Casualty/ Wounded)

No of Explosion Incidents

On the 3rd Qtr 2013, more individuals are affected compare to 1st and 2nd Qtr.

GRENADE 29%

IED 54%

LANDMINE 15%

PILLBOX 1%

METHANE GAS 1%

Type of Explosive Devices Used in 2013

1 0

6

1

3

6

2 0 0

9

5

8

13

1

17

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

CAR I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII ARMM

EXPLOSION INCIDENTS BY REGION, 2013

There is high explosion incidence monitored in Regions wherein the

insurgents (Communist Rebels) and Southern Mindanao Separatist Movements

(MILF/MNLF) are sighted.

BUSINESS AREA 13%

CHURCH 1%

CIVILIAN 8%

GOVERNMENT OFFICE 4%

MILITARY 34%

POLITICIAN 8%

PUBLIC AREA 17%

SCHOOL 4%

VITAL INSTALLATION 11%

TARGET OF EXPLOSIONS (BY TYPE OF AFFECTED), 2013

CIVILIAN 61%

UNIFORMED PERSONNEL

39%

Civilians are the Most Affected Population of Explosion Incidents in 2013

T H R E A T G R O U P S:

• Southern Philippines

Secessionist Groups

• Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)

“Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed” – Kwai Kibaki-

“After twenty years of pyschotherapy he found that people who try to fulfill themselves at the expense of others lose everything and are unfulfilled” – Scott Peck- (author of Road Less Traveled)