The Philippine government can defeat communist guerrillas within a decade by spending more on national security and social infrastructure, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. said here yesterday.
"There is reason to be optimistic that the communist insurgency can be resolved within the next six to 10 years," Cruz said in a speech at a defense minister’s meeting in Singapore.
SINGAPORE (AP) — The Philippine government can defeat communist guerrillas within a decade by spending more on national security and social infrastructure, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz Jr. said here yesterday.
"There is reason to be optimistic that the communist insurgency can be resolved within the next six to 10 years," Cruz said in a speech at a defense minister’s meeting in Singapore.
The communist New People’s Army, listed as a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, has been waging a rebellion for 30 years.
Cruz said success in permanently defeating the group depended on sustaining economic growth and increasing spending on social services and security.
"Our experience has shown that insurgents and terrorists often take advantage of people in impoverished communities in conflict areas to recruit adherents, gain support or secure safe havens," he said.
"These provide insurgents and terrorists opportunities that they are quick to exploit," Cruz said. "This is the vicious cycle we aim to stop once and for all."
The Philippine economy grew by a strong 5.5 percent last year, allowing improvements to the internal security forces and equipment purchases to enhance their mobility, firepower and communications, Cruz said.
Already, the NPA’s manpower has fallen by 13 percent a year since 2001, Cruz said at the meeting.
The rebels suspended Norwegian-brokered peace talks two years ago, mainly to protest Manila’s refusal to ask the US and EU to remove them from terrorist blacklists.
Cruz also said Manila still supports continuing peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a group that has been fighting for self-rule in the country’s impoverished south for more than two decades.
A ceasefire has been in place since 2003, while the two sides hold negotiations in neighboring Malaysia. The Philippine government says it hopes to conclude those talks by September.
Meanwhile, Singapore Defense Minister Teo Chee Hean told the same international forum of top defense officials and secuiroty experts that Asia-Pacific countries must move beyond dialogue and take more concrete measures to bolster regional security.
"Multilateral dialogue is an important process for defining and clarifying the regional security agenda," Teo said.
Disagreements exist but areas of agreement can serve as a basis for the next phase of cooperation, he said.
"That next step must be to productively channel the momentum generated by shared perspectives and shared interests to the development of practical cooperation and the building of capacities to tackle the threats and challenges," Teo said.
He cited disaster and humanitarian-relief operations, peace-support operations, counter-proliferation efforts as well as maritime security as areas where cooperative action can be undertaken.
Tackling potential threats in the busy Malacca Strait, one of the world’s most important waterways, will require cooperation from countries in the region and beyond, the Singapore minister said.
"The security challenges that confront us are as pressing as they are real," Teo said, adding "it is critical that countries both in the region and stakeholders from outside the region move from principles to practice."
"Disruption of these vital sea lanes would have immediate economic and strategic repercussions which would be felt far beyond Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific," he said.
Officials say vessels plying the strait, which pass through Singaporean, Indonesian and Malaysian territorial waters, are vulnerable to pirates and seaborne terrorism. The three countries have launched coordinated military air patrols over the waterway.
On the final day of the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual gathering of high-level defense officials to address regional security, Malaysia’s defense minister proposed a regional humanitarian relief center as part of an Asian "security village," while his Australian counterpart warned that East Timor could become a haven for terrorists if the young nation slides into full-scale civil war.
US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was among the keynote speakers, many of whom focused on the need for more cooperation in dealing with common threats and concerns.
Despite their common concerns, deep divisions among Asian nations were evident as Pakistan’s Gen. Ehsan ul-Haq, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, accused India of starting the nuclear arms race in South Asia.
"We did not introduce nuclear weapons into South Asia. Somebody else did that," Haq said. He was challenged by an Indian general in the audience who questioned Pakistan’s democratic credentials but Haq sidestepped the issue.
Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Raz
