Five days after shutting down its embassy in Manila, Australia has still not revealed details to the Philippines authorities of the threat that sparked the closure.
Congressman Apolinario Lozada - foreign relations chairman of the House of Representatives - warned that the closure could be a ploy to force Manila to sign a bilateral accord on security with Canberra.
He feared Australia might not reopen the embassy until it knew the outcome of the anti-terror pact meeting scheduled to take place in Sydney next month. Philippine Tourism Secretary Richard Gordon said it might be Australia's way of expressing its dissatisfaction at Manila.
'The timing of the closure is really bad. There have been no reports of any attacks against any Australians in the country recently, only the banning of their [Australia's] meat products,' Mr Gordon said.
The Australian Embassy's Web site yesterday said: 'Threats against Australians and Australian interests in the Philippines are high, given possible terrorist action and generally heightened security concerns. We have received credible and specific information of a threat to the Australian Embassy in Manila.'
Australia's continued refusal to share information on the specific threat has angered the military and police officials, who have been blamed by the opposition for the closure, sources said yesterday.