MANILA - President Gloria Arroyo has called for the full implementation of an anti-terrorism pact with Indonesia and Malaysia in the wake of new terror attacks in the region, a senior Philippine diplomat said today.

Arroyo raised the subject with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri shortly after car bombings in the Indonesian island resort of Bali claimed at least 180 lives, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Lauro Baja said.

Twin bombings in the southern Philippine city of Zamboanga that left at least five dead on Thursday had underscored the need to boost a regional front against terrorism, Baja said.

Perpetrators connected

"She (Arroyo) asked that the joint monitoring committee established under the trilateral agreement be made fully operational now," Baja said, referring to an anti-terrorism agreement signed by the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia in May.

"It seems that these perpetrators are more or less connected, or there is some connection in the bombings occurring in the region," Baja added.

The three Southeast Asian neighbors sealed the trilateral Agreement on Information Exchange and Establishment of Communication Procedures in Putrajaya, in May to combat the spread of terrorism and transnational crime in the region.

The accord calls for closer collaboration and exchange of information between the three countries regarding crimes and terrorism.

Baja said a joint committee which monitors and implements the provisions of the agreement had not yet been formally convened but stressed this could easily be done.AFP