BY NICK SOUDAKOFF
The government of the Philippines' agenda of crushing the national liberation movement in Mindanao, with the active help of the US military, has been dramatically exposed. But it didn't come from a government leak; the political bombshell was dropped from the Pentagon.
The row started when the Philippines government announced on February 17 that a new round of joint training exercises, "Balikatan 03-1", were going to be held in the Sulu province, on the island of Jolo in the western Mindanao region. US special forces were going to train Armed Forces of the Philippine (AFP) troops in the latest counter-insurgency techniques, using the kidnap gang Abu Sayyaf as live targets.
Presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said the conditions for the training would be the same as the earlier Balikatan 02-1 "exercises". He said that, aside from training and advisory roles, US military personnel would engage in "other services like civic and humanitarian projects".
The Balikatan 02-1 exercises, which ran from January to July 2002, were held on the island of Basilian, just north of Jolo. AFP troops and their US "trainers" hunted down Abu Sayyaf combatants on the island, supposedly destroying the group. The surviving members of the Basilian group fled to Jolo where another faction remained active. US soldiers were not permitted to "actively" engage in the fighting but were permitted to act in "self-defence" if fired on.
However, Pentagon officials told the US media on February 20 that there was a different agreement between Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld on the scope of the US military intervention.
The Pentagon revealed that about 750 US ground troops, including 350 special operations soldiers, were about to conduct or support combat patrols in the jungles of Sulu province. About 1000 US marines, armed with Cobra attack helicopters and Harrier AV-8B attack planes, were also ready aboard two ships offshore to act as a quick-response force.
The Pentagon asserted that Balikatan 03-1 was also to be open-ended rather than having a six-month time limit like the previous year's exercise.
Washington's statements led to an unprecedented disagreement with Manila over how the US military presence should be sold to the people of the Philippines.
Some elements in the Philippines government have gone out of their way to deny the Pentagon's revelations. "These reports emanate from junior officials who don't know what they are talking about", foreign secretary Blas Ople said on February 24, echoing almost daily statements from Bunye.
However on February 21, White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer confirmed that US President George Bush had signed off on the military operation after being briefed by Rumsfeld. He also confirmed that the Philippines government had requested US military intervention.
Philippines defence secretary Angelo Reyes initially did not deny the Pentagon's account of the agreement, saying only that the nature of US military support would be constitutional. President Arroyo had not directly commented on the issue at the time of writing but said last year she believed that a combat role for US troops would be legal.
Under the Philippines' constitution, it is illegal for foreign troops to be stationed on Philippines soil or be involved in combat operations in the Philippines. However, after the Balikatan 02-1 exercises were challenged as unconstitutional, the Philippines Supreme Court ruled that US troops could fire in self-defence during the exercises.
The political fallout has been so extensive that Reyes announced on February 26 that the "exercises" may be scrapped if the US insisted on its troops being involved in combat operations.
On February 22-23, a Mindanao summit of community leaders was held in Davao City, involving 500 Muslim and Christian leaders, to formulate a common stand against government attacks in central Mindanao and the arrival of US troops in Sulu.
The governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao has also rejected Balikatan 03-1 and has condemned the government for not consulting the ARMM, which it is legally required to do.
Washington has been keen to re-establish a military presence in the Philippines after US bases there were closed in 1991. The Clarke and Subic naval bases were important for maintaining Washington's capacity to intervene in south-east Asia and the Pacific. Areas in western Mindanao have been identified by the US military as a location for guarding US interests in the Pacific.
The Philippines government and military would be happy to oblige. They have been using the international "war on terror" to justify militarily crushing the Bangsamoro national liberation movement in Mindanao and the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People's Army.
However, the Philippines government was forced to close the US bases and prohibit foreign troops being based in the Philippines after massive, prolonged protests by the people throughout the 1990s. The Philippines government has not been able to roll back that popular sentiment.
Instead, it has quietly let the US in through the back door. Agreements such as the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement have allowed an increasing US military presence. The MLSA in particular allows for the US military to use Philippines military facilities.
From Green Left Weekly, March 5, 2003.
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