Solons want US military presence probed

MANILA, Philippines--The continued presence of American soldiers in some parts of Mindanao will be the subject of a congressional inquiry being pushed by the party list Gabriela in the House of Representatives.

Representative Liza Maza and Luz Ilagan filed House Resolution 1335 for the House to direct the committees on foreign affairs and defense to investigate the move of the Philippine and US governments to keep an elite force of 600 American soldiers for counterinsurgency operations in the country.

At the weekly forum of the members of the minority, Maza also called on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to disclose other agreements related to security that she had with US President Barack Obama when they met last month in Washington D.C.

Bayan Muna party list Representative Satur Ocampo said the legislative oversight committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement headed by Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Cebu Representative Antonio Cuenco, chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, should also scrutinize the matter.

“This puts into question whether their presence here over the last seven years and in the coming years was Constitutional,” Ocampo said.

Akbayan party list Representative Walden Bello said the presence of the US forces speaks of a “creeping basing structure in the country.”

“Let’s call a spade a spade, let’s not pretend anymore that there is no US basing in the country. The US bases are definitely back,” Bello said.

In their resolution, Maza and Ilagan said it was clear under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that US forces are not allowed to take part in the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ counterinsurgency operations.

They also said that at the height of military bases in the country from 1985 to 1991, around 50,000 women were prostituted in Olongapo and Angeles City, adding that “their continued presence has resulted to the proliferation of prostitution and violence against women and children.”