Despite threats of widespread protests by militant groups, the Philippine military said Sunday no security threat has been monitored in connection with the arrival Monday of United States President Barack Obama, who is visiting four Asian countries as Washington signals a determination to add heft to its presence in the region.
“So far, none. At my level, we have not monitored any threat [to] disrupt his (Obama) visit,” Brigadier General Manuel Gonzales, commander of the Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, said.
Despite this, authorities will continue tracking well-publicized plans by left-leaning party-list groups and organizations to mount protests against the visit of Obama. The militants have said earlier Washington’s visit is meant to exploit the state of uncertainty and tension generated by Manila’s run-ins with Beijing over the West Philippine Sea—the part of the South China Sea that the Philippines asserts is part of its territory.
The groups are mobilizing rallies as part of a coordinated global protest against what is described as a fresh wave of US imperialism. In Manila, that sentiment is fanned by the expected signing of an agreement on enhanced defense cooperation between Washington and its former colony, which once hosted its largest overseas bases at Clark and subic.
A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said no movements of threat groups, especially from the communist New People’s Army (NPA), have been monitored.
Other armed groups like the Abu Sayyaf Group and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters have been checked, but all indications show they are contained in Mindanao. “No movement has been monitored here in Manila. So I think everything will run smoothly,” the source added.
Gonzales, meanwhile, said a standby force of 200 men is on call and ready to be mobilized immediately if needed by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).
“We are just a support unit for the Philippine National Police. Actually, we also did our own security plan for his (Obama) visit but we are all in support, in coordination with the PNP as they are the primary [units for this event],” he said.
Photos below, by Bernard Testa, provide an advance glimpse of the kind of protests local authorities will be dealing with on Monday and Tuesday. The first three photos are on Akbayan's flash mob at a Quezon City coffee shop Sunday; the fourth and fifth show BAYAN activists preparing masks and effigies; and the last photo shows migrant workers' support group Migrante burning the US flag.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/85559/slide-show--amid-protest-plans-afp-says-no-threat-monitored-on-obama-visit-to-manila
Anakbayan, Bayan, and Migrante are all Communist Party of the Philippines front organizations.
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