NAIA security tightened for Clinton arrival Wednesday

Security was tightened at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport early Wednesday for the arrival of former United States President William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton. Radio dzBB's Denver Trinidad reported police and personnel from the US Embassy coordinated security measures at the airport, hours before Clinton's arrival. The report said Clinton was scheduled to arrive at 11 a.m. on a private jet, which would taxi at a private hangar in the general aviation area. Security personnel declared early Wednesday several areas at the NAIA off-limits even to media. No video footage of Clinton's arrival was to be allowed, the report added. Clinton, who was US president from 1993 to 2001, will deliver a lecture titled “Embracing Our Common Humanity" at the Manila Hotel at 4 p.m. Wednesday. At The Manila Hotel, meanwhile, dzBB’s Carlo Mateo reported security was likewise tightened, with several security layers for guests. K-9 teams and X-ray machines were stationed at the hotel lobby. Roundup Security was also tightened in Manila, with police rounding up "suspected criminals" living inside the city's North Cemetery before dawn Wednesday. Radio dwIZ reported the Manila Police District (MPD) operatives brought several men living inside the cemetery to the nearest police station for "verification." The MPD claimed it received several complaints that those behind recent robberies and muggings retreated to the cemetery to hide. Police said they will release the men once they "clear" a criminal record check. But a separate report by dzBB's Carlo Mateo said the MPD Police Station 3 insisted the predawn raid was not connected with Clinton's visit. It was the second roundup of suspected criminals since last Saturday, when MPD Station 7 operatives held suspected robbers at a neighborhood in the Tondo district. On the other hand, Metro Manila police director Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome said "sufficient" security measures are in place for Clinton's visit. "Meron tayong nakatalaga para sa kanya. Meron tayong specific areas kung saan tayo magse-secure (We have enough security personnel for him. We have secured specific areas)," Bartolome said in an interview on dwIZ radio. But he refused to give details, and would only say their preparations are "enough." "I cannot give you specific details. I can say there are police personnel who will conduct regular patrols and maintain visibility. Suffice it to say our security is sufficient," he said. 'Bitter' memories Militant groups, however, said Clinton's visit brings to mind bitter memories, noting that it was under his watch that two "whammies" from the US hit the Philippines. The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said Clinton's visit stirs memories of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the failed economic policies of “globalization." “Amid the ongoing review of the VFA and amid the worst global economic crisis since The Great Depression, here comes Bill Clinton with a message that seems to echo the existing US foreign policy of neo-liberal globalization and US military hegemony, couched in such terms as ‘inter-dependence,’ ‘common humanity,’ and ‘shared goals and values,'" Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr said on the Bayan website. Reyes recalled Clinton was US president when the controversial RP-US VFA was signed. “Let’s not forget that it was the Clinton administration that pushed for the passage of the VFA in 1999 as a way to maintain US military presence in the region even without having a bases treaty. We have come full circle since then. The VFA is now being reviewed after many legal and diplomatic controversies during its 11-year implementation," Reyes said. He added Clinton was also the US president when the Philippines hosted the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in 1996. “The US is making a renewed pitch for globalization amid its own worsening crisis. Despite the tremendous damage wrought by neo-liberal policies worldwide and even in the US economy, here is the former US president who seems to be telling us that globalization still works," he said. “The message is likely the same as when Clinton was here in 1996 at the APEC Summit in Subic. The former president apparently wants us to believe that it is in our best interest as a nation to open up our economy to foreign investors and banks," he added. Bayan noted a year after the 1996 APEC Summit in Subic, the Philippines was embroiled in the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis which raised questions about government’s neo-liberal economic policies. But last Monday, President Benigno Aquino III said Clinton’s visit despite the US government’s travel warning on the country due to terror threats shows that the nation remains safe for tourists. "I would assume that that would be a vote of confidence. The former US president has a Secret Service detail still assigned to him who would object if there was a realistic and imminent terrorist threat," Aquino told reporters in Malacañang. [See story: Clinton visit shows PHL is safe, says Aquino] — LBG, GMANews.TV