US aircraft leave Clark

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga – All nine US military aircraft participating in the Balance Piston war games, including an MC-130 cargo plane hit by ground fire over the Cordilleras, flew back to their home base in Okinawa, Japan over the weekend as the RP-US war military exercise here nears its conclusion.

US Air Force Master Sgt. Michael Farris, spokesman for the 353rd US special operations group, said only military personnel remained following the departure of three US Army MH-47 helicopters and six cargo planes.

He declined to reveal how the remaining troops would be flown back to Japan. Balance Piston, part of the annual RP-US military exercises under the Visiting Forces Agreement, is scheduled to end on Feb. 15.

Farris said there has been no report yet from a probe team examining the extent of damage to the MC-130.

Last Jan. 31, the cargo plane took hits from rifle fire while on a resupply mission over the Cordillera area. The attack was initially blamed on guerrillas of the New People’s Army.

The communist group, however, denied involvement in the incident.

Farris said he needs "a day or two" to find out the results of the investigation.

Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Manny Villar said US troops must be out of the country in six months, whether or not they succeed in crushing the Abu Sayyaf.

"Pass your papers, finished or not. This must be our policy regarding the presence of American troops in our country," Villar said.

The senator said US troops should be given a strict six-month deadline to accomplish their objectives in the country.

Reacting to statements made by President Arroyo that those against the presence of US troops are anti-Filipino, Villar surmised she may have said them in haste.

"Such statements are unbecoming of a President as they only cause divisiveness. But she may have said them in haste," he said. "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion on the issue and we must respect that."

Villar said he was hopeful that the presence of US troops would yield positive benefits for the country.

"Of course, we are all hoping that their presence here bears fruit and results in the eradication of the Abu Sayyaf," he said.