Pubdate: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 Source: Mindanao Times (Philippines) Copyright: 2005 Mindanao Times. Contact: http://www.mindanaotimes.com.ph/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2980 Author: ASA, JGD Cited: US Drug Enforcement Administration http://www.dea.gov Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Baker+Piston Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Rodrigo+Duterte Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/areas/Philippines US OFFICIALS DEFY TERRORISM THREAT; NO TRAVEL ADVISORY TOP RANKING US officials defied the terrorism threat in Mindanao as they graced yesterday the concluding rites of the monthlong anti-narcotics training here dubbed as "Baker Piston 05-1" in Davao City The US delegation was headed by US Ambassador to the Philippines Francis Ricciardone who motored to the ceremonies with other US officials at the at the Philippine Public Safety College, Regional Training School 11 in Tugbok District. Other US officials included Rear Admiral Richard Kelly, director of the Joint Interagency Task Force West (JIATF West, and Timothy Teal, US Drug Enforcement Administration country attache. This developed as Ricciardone also said there's no travel advisory for the Americans anywhere in the Philippines despite the simultaneous blasts that happened on Valentine's Day in the cities of General Santos and Davao in Mindanao, and Makati City in Metro Manila. American ambassador Francis Ricciardone said there's no new advisory issued to prevent US citizens to travel to the Philippines despite the Valentine blasts. "We update the information that we put out for American citizens as events occur. But all we put out is what people in the Philippines are reading on their own media. Americans are not reading your newspapers everyday. So they don't follow events here, unlike Filipinos," he said. Ricciardone said the US government is not warning American citizens to visit the Philippines. He even bragged that his father is with him in the country. Ricciardone explained that advisories are simply flat and factual information. "It is not at all as some people suggest, to discourage Americans to visit here," he said. He also said his visit to Davao City and other areas in Mindanao is a show of support to the national government's fight against the terrorism. Ricciardone reiterated to maintain the US alliance with the Philippines. "The United States is your ally and we support the Philippines in standing up to terrorism. The Philippines is a country that does not just give in to terrorism. You have a strong mayor who just does everything against terrorism or drug dealers or traffickers of people or any kind of criminals. We are on your side. We gonna stand with you. No question about it," he said. Ricciardone said events like bombing incidents happen and cannot be denied because of media coverage. "Incidents are not secrets. This is not a matter of American advisories that make them up when something happens. We report facts so that US citizens know what Filipino citizens know," he said. Ricciardone said he was never afraid of "terroristic attack" as he has "the full confidence to this country, to this city, especially to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte." Davao City was among the three major cities rocked with bomb explosion at the Davao City Overland Transport Terminal in Ecoland on Valentine's Day, which left a 12-year-old dead and six others wounded. Three were killed in General Santos City while three others died in the Makati bombing. "I came here today as an ally to the Philippines. My purpose is nothing more important than strengthening the rule of law," Ricciardone told the 65 graduates of the anti-narcotics training. The participants, members of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, Philippine National Police, and Armed Forces of the Philippines, were each given certificate of completion for participating in the training. The training was facilitated by eight US instructors from the JIATF West through the invitation of the Philippine government in its fight against drug menace. Kelly said that JIATF West is very supportive of the anti-drug activities of the Philippine law enforcement and military allies by giving them ground and maritime special skills and by providing them infrastructure development. He said their very goal is to disrupt narcotics-related trafficking organizations, which is why they partnered with the Philippines to combat this drug problem. Ricciardone said that Duterte set a good example in combating illegal drugs. As a response, he said "I am at your service 24 hours a day sir. Please call me personally and I'll be there." Duterte said he was happy of the support extended by the US government in training the country's law enforcement agencies to be more skilled in handling drug cases. In an interview later, Duterte said he is also "also available 25 hours a day." Ricciardone condemned the bombing incident and expressed sympathy to the victims. "We lost a poor boy here in Davao. I am sadden to hear about that. But we stand with you. We want Filipinos to take courage in the fact that we are together. Times like these, friends must stick together," he said. He also renewed his country's commitment to help the Philippines in law enforcement, training of soldiers, and NBI-FBI intelligence cooperation. "We can always do things better both internally and together, challenging criminals who are always developing their means of hurting people. We in government be in law enforcement, or the armed services, intelligence or diplomacy, public service of various kinds or first responders, public health people, we play together as a team, and share lessons learned, and always keep ourselves ahead of the bad guys as we can," Ricciardone said. However, he pointed out many things have to be improved in the US-RP joint effort to fight terrorism. "On the US side, we need to improve our legislation. Your law-makers are debating ways of strengthening your terrorism laws. There's a great debate about national identity cards, including anti-money laundering," he added. - ---