‘Presence of US troops may harm civilians’

MILITANT lawmakers filed Resolution 1335 seeking for the House committees on foreign affairs and defense to probe the 600-US soldier counterinsurgency operation deployed in the country.

Gabriela Representative Luzviminda Ilagan on Monday said the US troops, said to be permanently deployed in the Philippines, will make civilians “collateral damage.”

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Ilagan, along with party-list mate Liza Maza, filed Resolution 1335. Both said that the permanent stay of the troops is a violation of the Constitution.

The resolution came in the wake of the announcement of US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that the US and Philippine governments will keep an elite force of 600 American soldiers, as part of the Joint Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF)-Philippines.

The JSOTF has been in existence since 2002. Gates said the US counterinsurgency operation played a key role in the successes of the Philippine Armed Forces against the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

According to Ilagan, the security of the civilians will be endangered if the US troops will continue to remain.

“The presence of the Americans and their interference will provoke the MILF and other armed groups. If there will be new clashes, the civilians will be collateral damage,” she said in a text message to Sun.Star.

Ilagan added that because of the possible clashes, massive evacuation will happen again.

In the resolution, the two lawmakers pointed out that even with the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the US, US military forces are not allowed to remain in the country for counterinsurgency operations.

Akbayan Representative Walden Bello mentioned a study made by Herbert Docena, an expert of military presence in the Philippines, which said that JSOTF has been deployed in south Philippines as a “part of a reinvented US global military positioning.”

Bello also quoted an expert of Western Mindanao State University who identified other US military bases in Zamboanga like in the Zamboanga City International Airport, Majini Pier inside the Naval Forces Western Mindanao Command, and a training facility inside Camp Arturo Enrile in Malagutay village.

According to Ilagan, the US forces are embedded in the military camps, and some are constantly moving around. “This is the nature of their being visiting forces. So, the danger is widespread.”

House committee on foreign affairs chairman Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, first district) meanwhile said he has yet to read the resolution.

Cuenco pointed out that the validity of the VFA was upheld by our Supreme Court in a recent case.

However, he said he will discuss the issue with senators and representatives in a meeting with the Legislative Oversight on the VFA (LOVFA).

“That's a debatable issue by the LOFVA...the committee will have their say on the matter,” he said.