Philippines: US request a 'cover' for combat troops

US request a 'cover' for combat troops-opposition

Posted: 11:42 PM (Manila Time) | Mar. 17, 2002
By Christine O. Avendaño, Carlito Pablo and Martin P. Marfil
Inquirer News Service

Conflicting statements issued

The US request to bring in more American troops--albeit as "civic action personnel"--is a "cover" to "legitimize (US) combat operations" in the Philippines, the chief opposition leader in the House of Representatives said Sunday.

"It proves what we have long been saying, that the Balikatan is not a mere military exercise but combat operations (against the Abu Sayyaf)," House Minority Leader Carlos Padilla said in a phone interview.
The request is an "indication of an escalation of activities" of the US military here, Padilla said. It "serves as (a) cover to legitimize the combat operations, make it acceptable and palatable to the people."

"It's pampapogi (meant to make them look good)," he added.

Party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo (Bayan Muna) said bringing in non-combat US personnel was aimed at "winning the hearts and minds and support of the Moro people."

"It's part of the propaganda to make the US presence acceptable here…as acceptable as American culture, such as their food and songs," Ocampo said in a separate phone interview.

A militant group of fishermen charged that the requested increase in the number of US troops was already "a done deal."

However, presidential spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao and chief military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan issued conflicting statements.

Tiglao Sunday said the deployment of some 300 more American military personnel on Basilan Island was being planned for what he called "civic action work."

This, he said, was not in conflict with the terms of reference (TOR) of the six-month-long Balikatan 02-1 military exercise.

"The TOR sets (a limit of) around 600 US personnel but it does not say that it's the absolute ceiling for that," he said. "It did not categorically say that absolutely it would be 600 personnel."

He also said the request emerged from "informal proposals based on the assessment of both the US and RP (military) personnel in Basilan."

But on all three points, Adan offered different answers. He said the Americans would need "at least a battalion" of additional troops. A battalion comprises 800 to 1000 soldiers.

He said another military exercise, requiring a new set of TOR, was necessary. And the request came from the US side, he said.

"It must be (included in) another exercise . . . We're trying to determine how to go about it, what are the options, so that we can meet the objective of undertaking development projects without violating the terms of reference of Balikatan 02-1," Adan told the Inquirer.

The original TOR provides for the "projected" participation of 660 US personnel and 3,800 Philippine soldiers. "It's still being studied . . . so as not to violate the TOR," Adan added.

But Tiglao asserted: "It's not an escalation at all. It's simply additional resources in the form of additional personnel."

Tiglao said an addition of 300 more US soldiers "is not really big for an area such as Basilan or even the number of Filipino troops that have to be trained."

http://www.inq7.net/nat/2002/mar/18/nat_2-1.htm

Also:

US wants to double military presence in southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP) - More than 600 US troops in an anti-terror operation in the Philippines want an equal number of reinforcements to deal with the non-combat aspects of the military campaign, a Filipino general said.

President Gloria Arroyo's government is studying the American government's request, Filipino military spokesman Brigadier General Edilberto Adan told reporters Sunday.

Some 660 US troops are deployed in the Philippines as part of Washington's global campaign against terrorism. Ten were killed in a helicopter crash in waters off the central Philippines last month.

The US contingent includes 160 Special Forces troops engaged in an advisory role on the island of Basilan, where about 5,000 Filipino troops are hunting an estimated 300 Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrillas with links to the al-Qaeda terror network.

The rest of the Americans are based in this southern city, as well as in the central city of Cebu, where they fly surveillance and logistics missions in a joint operation scheduled to last until June.

"In principle, they (Americans) want a civil affairs component, which means construction of various engineering projects like roads and bridges," Adan said.

"These will require additional personnel, but not special forces. They have seen the need for a civil affairs component for solving the problems in Basilan, which could be answered by engineering and other types of work," he added.

Seven in 10 of the 350,000 mainly Muslim residents of Basilan, a jungle-backed volcanic island the size of Los Angeles, live on less than 75 US cents a day, according to government statistics.

The Americans would need "at least a battalion," the general said. A battalion comprises around 800 to 1000 soldiers.

He said that if Manila agreed to more deployments, it would have to be under another military exercise because the terms of reference of the ongoing campaign against the Abu Sayyaf sets limits on the number of US participants.

"It's not even on the drawing board. We are trying to determine how to go about it, what are the options to meet the objective of undertaking development projects," he said. "It's still being studied."

Meanwhile, Filipino troops on Basilan clashed with an Abu Sayyaf unit at dawn Sunday, leaving one soldier wounded, the military said.

No US Special Forces troops were involved in the fighting near the town of Tipo-Tipo, Captain Noel Detoyato told reporters.

He said the guerrillas involved in the fighting were not from the same faction holding two American Christian missionaries and a Filipina nurse hostage.

A Philippine military helicopter evacuated the wounded soldier while two other helicopter gunships attacked the rebel unit, he said.

The rebels were led by Amir Minkong, described by the military as an Abu Sayyaf leader, although the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) -- the largest Muslim separatist group in the Philippines -- say he is one of their own.

The MILF, which has over 1,000 troops in Basilan, has warned of possible confrontations if the Americans venture into their territory.

The MILF is currently observing a ceasefire with Manila, but the Philippines military said it would take action against the group if it attacked US troops.

Both Manila and Washington have said the 300-odd Abu Sayyaf rebel group in Basilan has ties to the al-Qaeda terror network of Osama bin Laden, the main suspect in the September 11 attacks in the United States.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/020317/afp/020317085307int.html

And:

Friday March 15, 3:54 PM

US Special Forces to join counter-insurgency patrols in Philippines

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, March 15 (AFP) - Small US Special Forces units are to join Filipino troops in patrols in the southern Philippines island stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrilla group next week, Philippines military officials said Friday.

But the officials insisted the Americans would only be joining "field training exercises" on Basilan island and not engage in actual combat.

They are however allowed to defend themselves if attacked by hostile forces including the Abu Sayyaf, a small group of Islamic militants holding hostage a US couple and are linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network.

"Their special forces and our special forces will conduct some special operations training activity," military southern command spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Danilo Servando said.

About 160 US Special Forces, divided into 12-man teams, are deployed with several military battalions in Basilan, a hilly island the size of Los Angeles where the rebels have been holding hostage US Christian missioary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham since June.

Under the terms of reference of the operation Filipino authorities describe as a "joint training exercise", the American soldiers may not be assigned to Filipino units smaller than a company -- a military unit that numbers at least 100 soldiers.

The US deployment in the southern Philippines is the largest next to Afghanistan in its war on terrorism.

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/020315/afp/020315075434philippines.html

More:

Saturday March 16, 11:55 AM

Two Filipino soldiers killed, 17 wounded in communist rebel ambush



ZAMBOANGA, Philippines, March 16 (AFP) -
Two infantry men were killed and at least 17 others wounded in an ambush by communist rebels in the southern Philippines, the military said Saturday.

The soldiers were travelling by truck on their way back from a patrol when they were waylaid by some 70 New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas in the town of Hinatuan in Surigao del Sur province, military southern command spokesman Captain Noel Detoyato said.

The soldiers beat back the guerrillas after a three-hour fight, but a sergeant and a private were killed and 17 others wounded, Detoyato said.

An undetermined number of rebels were also believed to have been killed or wounded in the gunbattle, he added.

The NPA is the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines.

The government last year suspended talks with the rebels after the NPA assassinated two members of Congress.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/020316/1/2l9at.html

Related:

Manila Denies U.S. Battlefield Rescue Breached Deal

Sat Mar 16, 7:22 AM ET

MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines insisted on Saturday a U.S. helicopter mission to rescue Filipino troops wounded in battle had not overstepped the controversial military training agreement between the two countries.

It was the first time since the training exercises began that American air support had been used to pick up troops wounded in fighting with Abu Sayyaf rebels, who are linked by Washington to the al-Qaeda network blamed for the September 11 attacks.

The helicopter, crewed by American military personnel, picked up one dead and three wounded Filipino soldiers from the site of a clash with Abu Sayyaf on Basilan island late on Friday, Brigadier General Donald Wurster, chief of the U.S. Special Operations Comand, said in a statement.

About 600 U.S. troops are in the southern Philippines training local troops fighting Abu Sayyaf, in a deployment critics say violates a ban in the constitution of the Philippines on foreign combat forces from operating in the country.

Under the terms of the joint military exercise, the American forces are supposed to limit themselves to training and logistics support and may not engage in combat.

"Such details as rescuing Philippine troops does not really contradict that main principle," Presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told Reuters.

"It (use of the helicopter) would fall under the broad parameters of the (training) agreement with the United States,"

"If they have the transport vehicles in place it would be to irrationally penalize our troops not to use them," he added.

The government says its treaties with the United States give it the right to conduct the military exercises.

About 160 U.S. special forces have been joining local soldiers on patrol in Basilan, a remote jungle-clad island 900 km (55 miles) south of Manila, where the Abu Sayyaf have holed up.

PLANS TO BEEF UP U.S. PRESENCE

Tiglao confirmed that the government has received informal proposals for an increase in the number of American military personnel allowed to take part in the exercises.

"The proposal that I have heard is that they (United States military) feel there should be more civic action-oriented personnel such as engineers and medical teams allowed to take part... they feel they do not have enough civil personnel."

He added that a final decision would be in the hands of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (news - web sites).

He said the original agreement stipulated "around or approximately 600" Americans would take part in the exercises but there was no specific ceiling.

In a separate incident early on Saturday, the Philippine army said two Abu Sayyaf fighters were killed in a clash with troops on Jolo island, south of Basilan.

None of the soldiers were hurt and the military was pursuing the remnants of the group, Army Southern Command chief Lieutenant General Roy Cimatu said.

The Abu Sayyaf claims to be fighting for an Islamic homeland in the southern Philippines but its main activity has been kidnap for ransom. It is holding American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&u=/nm/20020316/ts_nm/philippines_rebels_dc_3