December
1, 2006: A major factor in reducing the rate of kidnapping, and terrorist
activity, has been the rewards program. The most wanted criminals are more
often caught because rewards, usually under $10,000, are paid to those who
provide essential information. Last year, 155 "most-wanted" criminals
were caught by paying out $834,000 in rewards. Recently, seven of the "Top
Ten Most Wanted" were caught that way. While many of those arrested
were Islamic terrorists, catching these guys is complicated by the fact that
the Islamic radicals terrorize the Moslem population into not cooperating. This
does not work all the time, and many terrorists have been given up by fellow
Moslems.
November
30, 2006: Four soldiers were killed when they were ambushed by NPA
rebelsin the south.
November
29, 2006: Five of the ten Indonesian Islamic terrorists being sought in
the Philippines, are women. It is feared that Islamic terrorists will try to
use female suicide bombers, in order to get past the tighter security
surrounding senior government officials.
November
28, 2006: A new security agreement with Australia will allow Australian
troops to participate in counter-terrorism training exercises in the southern
Philippines.
November
26, 2006: An investigation revealed that corrupt immigration officials had
assisted al Qaeda members, using forged Indian passports, to illegally enter
the Philippines. From now on, visitors from countries with large Moslem
populations will receive greater scrutiny.
November
24, 2006: In the south, a police raid on an Abu Sayyaf hideout resulted in
one terrorist killed and another arrested.
