‘After Sayyaf, NPA, Pentagon are next’

After the Abu Sayyaf, will the New People’s Army (NPA) and the Pentagon kidnapping gang be next?

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes held it likely yesterday that after annihilating the Abu Sayyaf Islamist group in Mindanao, Philippine and US troops, now on a joint military "exercise," will then train their sights on the communist NPA rebels and the Pentagon gang operating in Central and Western Mindanao.

This developed amid warnings from former defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile that the American involvement may escalate into an "intrusion" similar to that in Vietnam in the early ’70s.

Enrile said the government was simply using the term "American advisers" to hide the real objective of the presence of American troops in the country.

In defending the likely continuance of the joint military exercise, Reyes said "the Abu Sayyaf group, the NPA and the Pentagon (gang) are listed (by the US) as terrorist groups."

"It will still be the Filipino soldiers who will do the fighting. They will be assisted by the American forces in terms of advice, in joint assessment, in sharing expertise and instruments," he stressed.

At present, the focus of the joint military exercises being held for the first time on Basilan island and nearby Zamboanga City is the Abu Sayyaf, Reyes said.

"As we know, the Abu Sayyaf has damaged our economy. Our investment climate has been partly destroyed. So we have to address that first," Reyes said.

He clarified that the US troops will not participate in actual combat against the Abu Sayyaf bandits who are still holding an American missionary couple and a Filipino nurse in their jungle lairs in Basilan.

It was pointed out, however, that the Americans may shoot back in self-defense if fired upon by the "enemy."

This indicated that the American soldiers will be using live ammunition for the exercise.

He said the war games, dubbed "Balikatan 02-1" involving 1,200 Filipino soldiers "training" alongside 660 American troopers in hunting down the Abu Sayyaf terrorists, may last an unprecedented six months to one year.

President Arroyo on Monday gave the marching order to the troops to begin the war games meant to be "more responsive and attuned to the times," in apparent reference to the US-led global war against terrorism.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said the plan to use the Abu Sayyaf as target enemy of the exercise was drawn up by the Department of National Defense.

The presidential approval was based on the recommendations of Reyes and Armed Forces chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva.

Reyes said only 160 of the Americans, mostly trainers and consultants, will be involved in the operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan.

The rest of the US troops will join their Philippine counterparts at the training facility in Zamboanga City.

"The training in Zamboanga City is much closer to Basilan, nearer to the areas of conflict, so they can be easily reinforced," Reyes pointed out.

Despite the added dimensions given to the annual military exercise, Reyes insisted that the undertaking still falls within the purview of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the two countries.

AFP vice chief of staff Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya also allayed fears that the exercise was just a cover-up for direct US involvement in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf.

Abaya said both forces will be using their respective equipment, although he admitted that Filipino soldiers may avail themselves of the more sophisticated US war materiel on certain exigencies.

Use of US troops to rescue Abu hostages hit

The political opposition and militant groups raised strong objections to the use of the American soldiers in rescuing Abu Sayyaf hostages Martin Burnham and his wife, Gracia, and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap in Basilan.

Enrile warned that the country might suffer the same fate that befell Vietnam with the intrusion of American troops.

Enrile, who was defense minister under two administrations, said Vietnam’s trouble started with foreign advisers. "We have the potentiality of the Vietnam conflict."

"If reports are true, this is the first time the Philippine government has authorized foreign troops to fire at Filipino citizens," Enrile noted.

He said the presence of a large number of American troops in the Philippines may be tantamount to "stationing troops" which is a violation of the VFA and the Constitution.

The Philippine Constitution Association urged Malacañang to explain why it authorized American troops to directly participate in the rescue operations for the hostages.

The Burnhams were seized by Abu Sayyaf gunmen during a raid on the upscale resort of Dos Palmas in Palawan on May 27 last year.

Sanlakas, for its part, said the US advisers could merely worsen the peace and order situation in Mindanao, saying the Muslims would resent foreign intrusion in their homeland.

On the other hand, the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said the incompetence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has become a convenient excuse for the Americans to violate the Philippine Constitution.

The militant groups charged that the Abu Sayyaf was created by Philippine and US officials in the early 1992 in a bid to undermine the secessionist struggle by the Moro National Liberation Front which has since signed a peace treaty with the government.

"This is not a simple military exercise anymore. It’s more of a tolerated invasion," said Sanlakas president Wilson Fortaleza.

Junk VFA spokesman retired Navy Capt. Danilo Vizmanos said there were no provisions in both the MDT and the VFA allowing US forces to engage in actual combat operations during military exercise.

"The MDT is directed at external invasion, while the VFA is solely for military exercises," Vizmanos said. — With reports from Paolo Romero, Romel Bagares, Jose Rodel Clapano