DILG: Asean meetings in Bohol to push through despite clash

Meetings of trade officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in Bohol will “go on as planned” this week despite the security scare from the recent clash between government troops and Abu Sayyaf bandits in the province, the Department of the Interior and Local Government said on Monday.

“(Bohol) might as well be considered a well-fortified and (the) most secure place in the country right now,” said DILG officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy, chair of the security committee of the Asean National Organizing Committee.

“(The) military and the police are on top of the situation,” Cuy said. “We would like to assure the delegates, tourists and residents alike that we are exerting our best efforts for Bohol.”

Asean officials will discuss trade negotiations and hold other related meetings at Hennan Resort on Panglao Island on April 19-22, he said.

About 100 Asean-related meetings are to be held in the Philippines after it assumed chairmanship of the 10-member regional bloc this year, its 50th founding anniversary.

Manila will host the 30th Asean Summit on April 26-29. The 31st Summit will be held in Pampanga in November.

The military said it was the first time that the bandits had sailed from their jungle strongholds in Sulu to Bohol, one of the country’s top tourist destinations, in a plan to grab hostages.

The bandits on three motorized bancas had landed on Inabanga town’s riverside village of Napo where the April 12 clash took place. Six bandits, a policeman, and three soldiers were killed, the military said.

Bohol Gov. Edgar Chatto said the clash was “contained” in Inabanga, more than 80 kilometers from Panglao.