SULU BALIKATAN TO TARGET ABUS.
Even as the regular joint RP-US Balikatan 03 war games start in three sites in Luzon today, Armed Forces chief Gen. Narciso Abaya revealed yesterday that the "special" Balikatan 03-1 exercises slated later this year would specifically target remnants of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in Sulu.
But Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye stressed that American soldiers set to participate in the exercise would have no combat role in hunting down Abu Sayyaf bandits who have been linked to the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah terror networks.
Source: Philippine Star, 25 April 2003
US SOLDIERS WARNED OF ‘HIGH’ THREAT IN RP. US soldiers participating in this year’s joint military exercises with Philippine troops have been barred by US defense officials from venturing outside the exercise venues due to possible terrorist attacks.
"Because the threat level in the Philippines is significant, we have taken extra precautions to ensure the safety of our military personnel. For force protection reasons, we do not discuss details," the US military said in a statement. In the statement, the US military said "as with every military operation, there is an element of danger. However, force protection is our number one priority, so US military members are required to take safety precautions and fulfill force protection requirements." US military spokesman Capt. Burrell Parmer, of the US marines, said the warning was issued by the US Department of Defense. He declined to give details about the advisory "for security reasons."
About 1,200 US troops will participate in the exercises — dubbed "Balikatan" (Shoulder-to-Shoulder) — which will be held Clark Air Base in Pampanga, at Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija and at a Navy training base in Ternate, Cavite. About 2,000 Philippine troops and personnel will participate in the maneuvers.
Source: Philippine Star, 23 April 2003
16 OF 18 MAYORS FAVOR BALIKATAN 03-1 IN SULU. A majority of the town mayors of Sulu have voted to have the province host this year’s joint Philippines-US Balikatan war games.
As of now, 16 out of the province’s 18 mayors favor a military exercise in Sulu. Last Monday, six of the eight mayors from Sulu’s first district signed a manifesto asking President Arroyo to hold the military exercise in their province. Sulu Rep. Munir Arbison said the 10 mayors from the second district, who had sent Mrs. Arroyo a similar manifesto last February, have remained firm on their stand that the Balikatan be held in Sulu. The mayors said they hope the Balikatan’s development component would help improve Sulu’s economic situation.
It was not clear why the mayors of Jolo and Parang did not sign the manifesto. Earlier, Sulu Gov. Yusop Jikiri said he would have to consult his constituents before deciding on whether to have the Balikatan held in his province.
Source: Philippine Star, 16 April 2003
MAJORITY OF SULU RESIDENTS WELCOME BALIKATAN 03-1. A majority of residents of Sulu have welcomed the holding of the joint Philippine-US military exercise and humanitarian mission in the island chain.
"The majority of the people here welcome the holding of the Balikatan 03-1, citing the benefit that (they) will get not only in terms of peace and order but also infrastructure and other humanitarian missions," said Col. Alexander Aleo, commander of the Army's 104th Infantry Brigade. Many local executives favor Sulu as the site of the war games, expressing disgust over the reluctance of their leaders to end poverty in the province. "The very cause of terrorism here is poverty," said a town official who asked not to be named.
"Poverty breeds terrorism because many people are feeling hopeless. Now here is a solution, why not try it." Luuk, Sulu officials stood by their earlier manifesto sent to the Office of the President, requesting that their municipality be the site of the Balikatan. Sulu Gov. Yusup Jikiri, who had resented not being consulted when his province was chosen as the Balikatan site, could not be reached for comment.
A military official said government troops are ready to secure US soldiers who would be deployed in Sulu for the Balikatan. The Americans will train Filipino soldiers in hand-to-hand combat and anti-terrorism operations. However, the military official said a small militant group is agitating residents to oppose the plan to hold the Balikatan in the province. "They are instigating the people here, speculating US forces to conduct operation," the military official said. Known as Concerned Citizens' Alliance, the anti-Balikatan group is rallying against President Arroyo's announcement that Sulu would be the site of the military exercise. The group reminded Sulu residents that hundreds of Muslims were killed by American colonial troops during a pacification campaign in 1900.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Narciso Abaya said the terms of reference (TOR) for this year's Balikatan were still being discussed but assured that US troops would not be allowed to go with Filipino soldiers on jungle patrol, just like in the previous military exercise. Abaya said there is yet no definite number of US troops that would take part in the forthcoming Balikatan.
A senior US official said Abaya discussed a number of possible scenarios with Brig. Gen. Joseph Weber, all consistent with the Philippine Constitution, to see what the AFP thought was achievable. Abaya and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes were informed three days ago that Weber would have to provide the US Pacific Command a final recommendation and assessment.
Source: Philippine Star, 11 April 2003
IT’S FINAL: BALIKATAN WAR GAMES TO BE HELD IN SULU. The new Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Narciso Abaya has confirmed that the controversial Balikatan 03-1 joint military exercise with the United States is to be held in Sulu after all.
But defense and military officials have apparently left open-ended the issue of whether or not US forces would be deployed in those parts of the province that are deemed as "too hostile."
Abaya said a modified version of the planned exercise could be held in Sulu in May or June for a period of six months. This was decided at a meeting last week with Gen. Joel Weber, commander of the US Marines in Okinawa, Japan. Abaya said the modified Balikatan 03-1 would be a "bigger exercise" than the Balikatan 02-1 held last year in Basilan as it would involve all Philippine troops now deployed in Western Mindanao.
The new joint exercise, which was supposed to have been held early this year, was scrapped by US and Philippine defense officials last month in the face of strong objections from Sulu leaders and residents who are said to be still deeply resentful over US Army atrocities during the pacification campaign there at the turn of the century. Militant groups and politicians were also critical of reported plans to deploy US troops in combat operations as this was violative of the Constitution.
Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, AFP chief of education and training and the director of the Balikatan program, said about 20 planners from the US Pacific Command had conferred with their Philippine counterparts to flesh out the details of the modified plan. Teodosio did not specify Sulu alone, saying the modified plan calls for the exercises to be held in Western Mindanao, with the focus on the Zamboanga peninsula, and the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. He said the modified plan had been submitted to Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for review.
Teodosio said the new exercises would have more or less similar components as in the previous Balikatan 02-1. The United States would be spending about 100 million dollars for the first 45 days of the exercises, he said. Another training exercise now going on in Malagutay town, Zamboanga City, was part of the new Balikatan 03-1 exercise, Teodosio said.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 9 April 2003
120 PINOY TROOPS END ANTI-TERROR TRAINING. An initial batch of 120 Filipino soldiers completed yesterday an anti-terror training exercise jointly conducted by the Philippine and US military in a site to the west of Zamboanga City.
The soldiers, who included former Muslim separatist guerrillas integrated into the military, graduated after six weeks of rigid anti-terrorist training, ranging from offensive planning, basic marksmanship, ambush, counter attack, demolition and intelligence, and medical evacuation of wounded comrades.
US Special Forces Maj. Kevin Colyer, the training commander, said the exercise was conducted based on the requirements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Col. Nehemias Pajarito, Philippine Army 1st Division chief of staff, formally accepted the new graduates and urged the soldiers to "keep the value" of their training. Col. Douglas Lengenfelder, commander of US troops in Zamboanga City, said the Americans are cooperating in "intelligence and physical security in the field" with the Philippine military to protect American soldiers in Mindanao.
Source: Philippine Star, 7 April 2003
MILF WARNS GI’S: KEEP OFF OUR AREAS. Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) separatist rebels warned yesterday that deploying US combat forces near their strongholds in Mindanao could draw the visiting forces into clashes, resulting in American casualties.
President Arroyo said on Friday she has made a "pretty final" decision to change the venue of planned war games involving US and Philippine troops from Sulu because of public opposition there. This gave rise to the possibility of holding the maneuvers elsewhere in the country’s impoverished south, including provinces where government troops are battling the MILF, which has been fighting for a separate Muslim state for decades. Mrs. Arroyo said she would not mind shifting the maneuvers to North Cotabato.
However, MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu said they oppose American military presence near their strongholds but would not ask that the exercise be moved. Kabalu said the MILF does not consider Washington an adversary, citing a meeting in Manila in January between US Embassy officials and representatives of an MILF-established agency to discuss possible American help in rehabilitating Muslim areas devastated by years of war. MILF chairman Hashim Salamat also sent a letter to US President George W. Bush last January to clarify American concerns about the group. Kabalu declined to disclose the contents.
US and Philippine defense officials are discussing where to hold the joint exercises. A six-month exercise last year on Basilan island was credited for breaking up the Abu Sayyaf Islamist kidnap gang.
Source: Philippine Star, 17 March 2003
REDS: BALIKATAN IN NPA AREAS AN ‘ACT OF AGGRESSION'. Communist New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas warned the government yesterday that any conduct of Balikatan 03-1 joint military exercises in identified "rebel territories" and adjacent areas would be considered "an act of provocation."
"(Any) deployment of US troops, within or along the periphery of the territories of the revolutionary movement may be regarded as acts of provocation," NPA spokesman Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal said. Rosal claimed the supposed clamor made by local government officials for Malacanang to hold Balikatan 03-1 exercises in their respective provinces was only meant to satisfy "the desire of Pentagon and Malacanang for US troops to directly fight the NPA and the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)."
Rosal claimed the alternative sites being eyed by the government for the joint maneuvers mentioned have "strong NPA presence." In the event that American troops are deployed in these areas, Rosal said, they should not "trespass."
Source: Philippine Star, 17 March 2003
NORTH COTABATO WANTS ‘BALIKATAN’. American soldiers may find themselves holding war games in North Cotabato instead of the inhospitable jungles of Sulu.
North Cotabato could host the Balikatan joint Philippines-US military exercises if President Arroyo heeds the appeal of Gov. Emmanuel Pinol. The governor has asked Mrs. Arroyo and Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes to consider holding this year’s Balikatan in his province. Pinol said the North Cotabato provincial board had already passed a resolution affirming his request. He said the development projects undertaken in Basilan during last year’s Balikatan could be replicated in North Cotabato.
Reyes said he has asked defense department and Armed Forces officials to study the proposal of Pinol, whose action is encouraging for the government. Earlier, Reyes said apart from Sulu, other venues are being considered for the Balikatan 03-1. Pinol also defended Reyes over the military’s capture of the Buliok complex, the sprawling camp of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in North Cotabato. Pinol said senators should take caution in any investigation of the Buliok incident.
Source: Philippine Star, 12 March 2003
3 PROVINCES WANT TO HOST BALIKATAN WAR GAMES. The governors of Occidental Mindoro, North Cotabato and Compostela Valley have offered to host the Balikatan 03-1 Philippine-US military exercises, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's spokesperson Ignacio Bunye announced Thursday after objections were raised by the local government of Sulu.
But Bunye said public consultations on holding the controversial military exercise in Sulu, a base of the Abu Sayyaf bandits, would continue, and the outcome would be considered when Philippine military officials finalized the specifics with their US counterparts. The people of Sulu have resisted the proposed deployment of US soldiers there, recalling the 1906 massacre of their ancestors by American colonial troops.
Malacanang on Thursday gave reporters copies of the March 5 resolution of the governors of Mimaropa (Oriental and Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) asking the President to order the holding of Balikatan 03-1 in Occidental Mindoro. They said this would "lessen the threats and dangers posed by such unwanted groups to the province and to the country," referring to the communist New People's Army. Bunye said the governors of North Cotabato and Compostela Valley were also expected to make a formal request because they had signified interest in hosting the exercise.
Source: Philippines Daily Inquirer, 7 March 2003
GOVERNMENT IN SEARCH OF ALTERNATIVE VENUES FOR BALIKATAN 03-1. Malacanang is now searching for a new place to conduct Balikatan 03-1 military exercises.
Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye made the announcement a few days after the government decided to defer the holding of Balikatan 03-1 in Sulu, taking into consideration the objections made by the residents on reported efforts to provide US troops combat role to run after the Abu Sayyaf bandits holed up in the province. Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, for his part, said he is not ruling out the possibility that the Philippine government would choose to transfer the scheduled war exercise out of Sulu.
Armed Forces Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya, however, insisted that the Balikatan should be held in the province. Abaya stressed that by holding the joint war exercise in Sulu, the task of hunting down the Abu Sayyaf would be made easier.
Reyes, who returned last Monday from an official trip in the US to meet with his counterpart, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to discuss the Balikatan plans, said the agreement to go on with the war exercises is "in principle." Pressed on reports that the Balikatan will be held in Quezon province, a known stronghold of the communist New People's Army (NPA) guerrillas, Reyes replied: "We will consider other options as to where, when in what manner, how many force."
Source: Philippine Star, 5 March 2003
REYES: BALIKATAN IN SULU WILL PUSH THROUGH. The RP-US Balikatan 03-1 in Sulu will push through, even as both Manila and Washington are rushing to reach a compromise on the ticklish issue of combat roles for American troops in hostile territory.
Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, who is concluding a two-week trip to Washington and the US Pacific Command in Honolulu, Hawaii, said both sides are searching for the "right language" on the rules governing the conduct of US troops in Sulu. Reyes was reacting to reports earlier that the exercises would be postponed due to controversies surrounding the role of US soldiers in the face of actual combat. Asked when the talks would conclude and the exercises start, Reyes said, "as soon as possible."
At Malacanang, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye denied reports that Balikatan 03-1 will be suspended, saying that the joint RP-US military exercises will push through as scheduled and stressed that US troops will not be involved in combat operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu.
Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Narciso Abaya accepted the President's 90-day challenge, and said yesterday the main target of their stepped-up offensives will be to get Abu Sayyaf leader Khaddafi Janjalani, who escaped from Basilan last year. Latest intelligence reports indicate Janjalani had relocated to Jolo, Sulu, Abaya said, adding that troops are under instructions to ensure the safety of hostages in any fighting.
Reyes said the President's announcement had nothing to do with awaited US assistance in the country's war against terrorism, particularly in the South. He said the bone of contention simply lies in the distinction perceived by military officials of both countries between training and operations.
Source: Philippine Star, 3 March 2003