US MARINES, SEABEES START DEPLOYING FOR BASILAN PROJECTS:
ZAMBOANGA CITY – US Marine engineers and Navy Seabees began deploying
yesterday for at least 10 construction projects in Basilan aimed at helping
local troops wipe out the Abu Sayyaf extremist group.
About a dozen trucks, bulldozers and other construction equipment, escorted
by US Special Forces and Filipino soldiers, roared out of an Army base in
Isabela City to Maluso town in Basilan.
The naval construction task force includes 340 military engineers who arrived
Saturday to build roads and helicopter landing pads, improve two ports,
dig wells and clear an unused air strip for a new phase in the joint RP-US
"Balikatan 02-1" military exercise.
The convoy created a traffic jam in the center of Isabela as people lined the
streets, waving and welcoming the soldiers like a liberation force.
The Department of National Defense (DND) said among the projects is a 60-kilometer
portion of the Basilan circumferential road.
In Isabela, an abandoned private airstrip will be repaired, improved and widened
to accommodate helicopters and C-130 cargo planes.
Piers will also be constructed at Tabiawan town near the headquarters of the
Army’s 103rd Brigade and at Port Holland in Maluso while water wells will be
drilled in strategic sites in Maluso and Campo Uno and other communities.
Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the projects were selected jointly by the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the US Pacific Command and would
contribute to economic development in the island.
Philippine Star, 23 April 2002
GUINGONA’S AUTHORITY OVER ‘BALIKATAN’ WAR GAMES CLIPPED: Vice President Teofisto
Guingona has lost the authority to approve the holding of this year’s and
future Balikatan military exercises between Philippine and US troops.
Malacanang is now the sole approving authority for the war games.
Guingona told reporters yesterday the National Security Council (NSC) ruled last
January that the procedure for deployment of troops under the 1951 RP-US Mutual
Defense Treaty would no longer be applied to the Balikatan.
Therefore, the Council of Foreign Ministers would no longer have to review any
scheduled war games as provided in the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA),
he added.
As secretaries of foreign affairs, Guingona and US Secretary of State Colin
Powell – represented by the US ambassador to Manila – are members of the Council
of Foreign Ministers.
Guingona said the NSC decided not to apply to the Balikatan the procedure for
troop deployment because the exercise does not involve any "external threat" as
provided under the Mutual Defense Treaty.
However, Guingona said every Balikatan military exercise will still have to go
through the Mutual Defense Board, which is comprised of Armed Forces chief Gen.
Diomedio Villanueva and Adm. Dennis Blair, commander-in-chief of US forces in
the Pacific.
Both the Council of Foreign Ministers and the Mutual Defense Board are provided
for under the Mutual Defense Treaty.
Guingona proposed that the next Balikatan be "expanded" to include poachers,
apparently alluding to Chinese fishermen encroaching on Philippine waters.
Joint training between Philippine and US troops must be conducted "to preserve
and protect these resources for the benefit of the Filipinos," he added.
Meanwhile, some 5,600 US and Philippine troops began a three-week joint exercise
in Central Luzon yesterday that will focus on war games and civic projects as the
two countries bolster their relationship in the face of terrorist threats.
Two groups staged small protests outside the US Embassy in Manila, calling the
maneuvers an infringement on Philippine sovereignty and claiming that American
forces failed to clean up toxic wastes when they pulled out of bases here.
Turnout was much smaller than for demonstrations when US troops began arriving
in January for a six-month counter-terrorism training exercise in Southern Mindanao
aimed at helping Filipino troops wipe out the Abu Sayyaf.
The war games in Central Luzon are expected to end on May 6, with the last week
devoted to civic operations, ranging from construction projects to medical and
dental clinics for local residents.
It carries risks because New People’s Army rebels have warned they will attack any
American who ventures into what the guerrillas claim is their territory.
In Clark Field, another batch of US Marines arrived yesterday, bringing to at least
822 the number of American troops deployed in the former US air force base.
The Balikatan in Central Luzon is the 17th in a series of large-scale military
exercises between the Philippine and the US, beginning in 1981.
It was suspended between 1996 and 1999 because of the absence of a treaty
governing the presence of a large number of US troops in the country.
Philippine Star, 23 April 2002
GMA OK’S MORE US TROOPS: Showing who’s boss, President Arroyo said yesterday
she has approved "in principle" the deployment of an additional 340 US soldiers,
mostly engineers, in Basilan for the ongoing Balikatan 02-1 military exercises,
shrugging off objections made by her foreign affairs secretary, Vice President
Teofisto Guingona Jr.
During an open forum at the Manila Overseas Press Club’s "President’s Night"
at the Manila Hotel last night, the President said she was invoking her powers
as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and her role as "chief architect" of
the government’s foreign policy.
The additional troops have left their base in Okinawa, Japan for Basilan. Their
departure was reportedly delayed by the objections of the foreign affairs
department.
The new group, Mrs. Arroyo said, "will still be part of the current Balikatan"
war exercises in Zamboanga City and Basilan.
The troops will be performing engineering work in Basilan, and will undertake
the construction of roads and waterwells, among others.
Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, joint task force commander of the US troops, said the
US is willing to bankroll the military and civic work.
Already, some $1 million is being spent for the deployment of US troops in
Central Luzon for the 15-day Balikatan 02-2 military exercises from April 22
to May 6.
Meanwhile, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said yesterday he sees nothing wrong
with the deployment of more US troops for the Balikatan 02-2.
As more US troops disembarked from a C-130 transport plane yesterday, protesting
fisher folk belonging to the militant Progresibong Alyansa ng mga Mangingisda
(Pangisda) hurled rotten fish at the gate of this former US military base.
Philippine Star, 19 April 2002
NO PLANS TO SET UP BASES IN RP – BLAIR: Zamboanga City – The commander of US
forces in the Pacific region yesterday said the United States has no plans to
re-establish bases in the Philippines.
"I keep getting this question that the United States is seeking to re-establish
the bases in the Philippines. The answer is no, absolutely not," said Adm.
Dennis Blair, head of the US Pacific Command, in response to reporters’ questions.
The speculation was fueled by talks between Manila and Washington to extend the
on-going Philippine-US joint military exercises, dubbed "Balikatan (Shoulder
to Shoulder)," including the massive manhunt for the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan.
Philippine Star, 17 April 2002
NPAS WARNED VS HARMING US TROOPS: CLARK FIELD, Pampanga – Maj. Gen. Rodolfo
Garcia, Armed Forces North and Central Luzon Command chief, warned the New
People’s Army (NPA) rebels yesterday of "severe repercussions" if they harm
any American soldier taking part in the "Balikatan 02-2" military exercises
to be held in Central Luzon starting April 22.
However, Garcia said the NPA may not risk a standoff with the Americans who
are expected to bring some 2,003 troops and 45 aircraft.
Garcia said the NPA has no anti-aircraft guns to be able to inflict serious
damage on US planes participating in the war games.
Garcia said it would not be possible for the NPA in Central Luzon to engage US
troops in combat because unlike in Basilan, the Americans in Balikatan 02-2 would
not be sent to the frontlines.
Garcia said the Armed Forces is coordinating with the police for the security of
American soldiers who might venture out of Balikatan designated areas for "rest
and recreation."
However, Garcia said the Americans have been advised to travel in groups when
going out to nearby communities and to tag along Filipino soldiers.
In Angeles City, Filipino and American officials have prepared a list of nightspots
which US troops would be allowed to visit.
Meanwhile, the militant fisherfolk group Pamalakaya said in a statement yesterday
the Armed Forces would be violating the Constitution if it insists on protecting
American soldiers from the NPA.
Rodolfo Sambajon, Pamalakaya national chairman, said US troops would not be in
the Philippines if the Armed Forces had acted on behalf of the people and
performed in accordance with the Filipino people’s national and democratic
aspirations.
The real target of the joint RP-US military exercises are the NPA, the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf, he added.
Philippine Star, 17 April 2002
US MILITARY STUDYING BALIKATAN EXTENSION: ZAMBOANGA CITY – US authorities
are studying the possibility of extending the Philippine-US Balikatan 02-1
joint military exercise, the commander in chief of the US Pacific Command
announced Tuesday.
"I believe that we need to continue to look at the situation and see the job
that we set out to do in support of our allies here," Admiral Dennis Blair
said at a press conference in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
Southern Command headquarters in this city. "We will evaluate all these
proposals."
In the event that the joint military exercise scheduled to last until the end
of July is extended, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not seek new "terms
of reference" (TOR) to cover it.
"If I heard the President right, she is amenable to an amendment of the TOR,"
acting press secretary Silvestre Afable said in Malacanang.
The President said on Monday that she favored the extension of the US military
presence in Basilan because the residents themselves wanted it so the
civic-action projects, such as the building of roads and water systems,
could be finished.
But even with talks on the possible extension of the military exercise aimed
at stamping out the Abu Sayyaf, Blair said the US government had no plan to
reestablish a permanent American military presence in the Philippines. He
said US troops would leave as soon as the Abu Sayyaf was crushed.
Blair also said he was in "active discussion" with Philippine officials to
bring in additional US military engineers to help in civic work in Basilan.
AFP chief of staff General Diomedio Villanueva confirmed this in Manila, saying
Blair favored the deployment of US military engineers in the impoverished
province "for the socio-economic development that should be pushed through
as a priority project."
But Villanueva said the matter was best left to the Department of National
Defense, "as well as the other political authorities including the Department
of Foreign Affairs."
Vice President and Foreign Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. has reportedly
taken the position that a new TOR should be negotiated with the United States
if it wanted to bring in more troops.
The existing TOR for Balikatan 02-1 limits the number of US troops in Basilan
and Zamboanga to 660, and prohibits US soldiers from engaging in combat
operations against the Abu Sayyaf.
In Manila, Senate President Pro Tempore Manuel Villar said it would be silly
for the Americans to leave Basilan without the Burnhams.
Villar expressed support for the President’s position that the US military
presence in Basilan should be extended.
Philippines Daily Inquirer, 17 April 2002
GI’S WILL SHOOT BACK AT NPA REBS – TIGLAO: American forces participating
in joint Balikatan war exercises with Filipino soldiers will fight back
if attacked by communist guerrillas, Press Secretary Rigoberto Tiglao said
Sunday.
"They (Americans) can act in self-defense," Tiglao said in reaction to the
order issued by Armando Liwanag, chair of the Communist Party of the
Philippines (CPP), to its armed wing, the New People’s Army, to "inflict
severe casualties on the invading US forces."
The right to self-defense is explicitly contained in the terms of reference
(TOR) for Balikatan 02-1 but only because American forces are to be placed in
combat areas, particularly in Basilan, the Abu Sayyaf’s stronghold.
Previous exercises, all of which were held in Luzon and the Visayas, did not
require a TOR. The coming joint military maneuvers, probably except those to
be held in Mindanao, may not need a TOR.
The directive of Liwanag, widely believed as the nom de guerre of exiled CPP
founder Jose Ma. Sison, was published in the CPP publication Ang Bayan.
Tiglao said that NPA guerrillas planning to hit American soldiers would have to
pass through "joint" Filipino and American security forces whose mission is to
protect the main body of US troops participating in the exercises.
About 2,700 American troops are arriving for Balikatan 02-2 to be held in several
military camps in Luzon from April 22 to May 6.
A total 2,003 American soldiers are expected to arrive Monday in Clark, Pampanga.
An advance party of 50 American soldiers arrived in Clark last week to prepare
for the logistics and technical requirements of the Balikatan 02-2.
Tiglao appealed to the CPP-NPA to desist from undertaking attacks on American
forces as "they might hit civilians." He said Sison ordered the NPA to attack
American forces because he wanted "to create an image as a national liberation
warrior."
This year, Balikatan 02-2 will use 39 aircraft, including four F-18 fighter planes,
and the warship Fort McHenry.
The US Pacific Forces commander, Adm. Dennis Blair, arrived in Manila Monday
aboard a private jet to check on the progress of the military operation against
the Abu Sayyaf bandits.
Military officials in Mindanao said Blair was scheduled to visit the Armed
Forces’ Southern Command in Zamboanga City on Monday as well as an army brigade
headquarters in nearby Basilan Island.
Philippines Daily Inquirer, 15 April 2002
US ALLOTS $7.3 MILLION FOR RP TERROR DRIVE: In line with its war against
terrorism, the United States has earmarked $7.3 million for the training
and additional equipment of two more crack Philippine Army units that will
go after terrorists, a defense department official disclosed yesterday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said over half of the money,
or $4.3 million, will come from a little-known Philippine-US defense cooperation
program called the "non-proliferation, anti-terrorism, demining and
related-program." The rest will come from a US Defense Department fund.
Actual training of the two so-called light reaction companies will begin this
month during the ongoing Balikatan joint Philippine-US military exercises, to
be held mostly in northern Luzon.
Aside from the training of the crack Philippine Army units, more equipment is
expected from the US. The Philippine Navy is expecting the arrival in November
of one USS Cyclone-class patrol boat .
Local authorities and the US FBI is investigating an intelligence report
suspecting the Abu Sayyaf of channeling funds to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda
terrorist network.
Police and soldiers in Mindanao are also on the lookout for suspected al-Qaeda
members who might try to slip through the country’s porous southern borders.
Meanwhile, in Angeles City, Pampanga, President Arroyo yesterday inaugurated
an academy that will train immigration personnel in fighting terrorism, human
smuggling and transnational crimes.
Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo said the Philippine Immigration Academy
will address the training needs of immigration personnel and those from other
government agencies.
Philippine Star, 5 April 2002
