HDFF Chairman’s Circle/ Strategic Forum persistent in its success !!
“Current and Evolving Terrorist threats in the Philippines –Parallels to Thailand?”
Friday, March 25, 2011
HDFF's Program
On Friday, March 25, 2011, HDFF welcomed again high level guests to the HDFF Chairman’s Circle/Strategic Forum series 2011 supported by IRPC at the Pullman Hotel, Bangkok.
It was an honor and pleasure to have a renowned guest speaker coming in from the Philippines especially for this high level event of HDFF to explain the situation in the Philippines:
Prof. Rommel C. Banlaoi , Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of Trustees – Philippine Institute for Political Violence and Terrorism Research
Professor Banlaoi served as a Professor of Political Science at the National Defense College of the Philipines (NDCP), Assistant Professor of International Studies at De La Salle University (DLSU) and Instructor in Political Science at the University of the Philippines (UP) at Los Banos. He also became the Director for Research at the World Citi Colleges, a private university in the Philippines, member of the Board of Regents of the University of Eastern Pangasinan (UEP) and Director of the Mayor’s Development Center of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines. He is currently a Senior Fellow at the Yuchengco Center of De La Salle University, Manila. He authored various books and publications pertaining to terrorism, national security, and international relations, most recently (2010):
Philippine Security in the Age of Terror: National, Regional, and Global Challenges in the Post-9/11 World
Rommel Banlaoi, Philippine Institute for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, Pasig City
Interested guests of various INGO, UN organizations and businesses were fascinated to listen to the presentation of Prof. Rommel about the terrorism in the Philippines and the respective implications.
HDFF Chairman General (ret) Bunchon Chawansin welcomes Prof. Rommel Banlaoi, Philippine Institute for Political Violence and Terrorism Research
According to the FTI risk ratings the Philippines have overtaken Thailand and Indonesia when it comes to facing terrorism threats. This is underlined by the fact that between 2005 and 2010 altogether 1,536 people were killed by terrorist attacks. These numbers were reason enough to bring Prof. Rommel Banlaoi to Bangkok in order to discuss with him the background and the respective implications for the ASEAN neighbors.
- Philippine terrorism is based on a network of family and business links so very difficult to penetrate and erase. Kidnapping for ransom (KFR) is still a major risk for (inter)national business men and bystanders.
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- Parallels to Southern Thailand are very limited as the geographical setting and the cultural background is different. It remains, however, clear that some terroristic training ideas are shared on a region wide basis in Southeast Asia.
The event was held under the Chatham House Rules which means that information gained during this event may be used. However, the person sharing the information must not be named.
Discussion after Prof. Rommel’s presentation
A lively discussion with inputs from various sources created an inspirational environment with some interesting insights into Philippine and even Southern Thailand politics.
HDFF would like to take the opportunity to thank the extraordinary guest speaker who received on 16 April 2011 the Philippine Peace Price as well as the participants for their active participation making this third HDFF Chairman’s Circle really thriving.
The next HDFF Chairman’s Circle/Strategic Forum which will continue to be held as a half day monthly event will commence on 26 May 2011 dealing with the situation in Indonesia or Malaysia. More information will be posted soon on the website or can be obtained via event@hdff.org
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