Army sleuths to help police fight crime

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo has vowed to stamp out the Philippines' image as the world's kidnapping capital after a rash of abductions threatens to derail her supporters in upcoming national polls.

Military intelligence officers are being redeployed to help police fight kidnapping gangs following Arroyo's directive to the armed forces last week to divert some of their resources to help combat the crime. The president has also asked the ethnic Chinese community, a frequent target of kidnappings, to set up a special liaison group to work with her office to tackle the problem.
Task force

"I have told the military that the enemy is not so much the rebel but rather the kidnapper lurking in the street corner," Arroyo told ethnic Chinese businessmen. The military is awaiting directives from Arroyo to form an anti-crime task force. Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes said that the Intelligence Services, Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) has been tapped to coordinate with law enforcement groups in addressing the apparent upsurge in criminality.

"The idea is that we will assist the Philippines National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation in intelligence gathering," said an Isafp officer, who requested anonymity. No orders yet The Armed Forces has yet to constitute a task force to assist the police in battling criminal groups in the country, the officer said.

"As for a task force, there are still no orders yet but we will oblige as soon as we are directed," the officer added. This came shortly after Arroyo assured the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry that the government will go all-out against criminality that is hampering the smooth flow of business in the country.

Another Isafp officer told Gulf News that the military will mainly provide assistance to law enforcement units concerning smuggling activities and kidnappings. Arroyo, during graduation ceremonies at the Philippine Military Academy told graduates: "Do not be surprised if in your service for internal security you are brought not necessarily to the hinterlands and to the mountains, but to the concrete jungle and to the waterfront."

As threats to political stability and national security have waned with the ouster of the allegedly corruption-ridden administration of president Joseph Estrada and the reopening of peace negotiations with Muslim separatists in the south and communist insurgents, the government's attention now shifts to containing criminality. Recently, three children of an ethnic Chinese businessman, Michael Cua, were abducted in broad daylight by gunmen in Manila.