600 US troops due for ‘Talon-Vision’

Some 600 members of the US Marines are coming to the Philippines in what may yet be another controversial joint military exercise with Filipino soldiers to be held in Luzon next month.

Philippine and US military authorities met at Clark Field in Pampanga yesterday to finalize plans for the maneuver dubbed "Talon-Vision 02" that would also involve about 400 Philippine troopers.

Maj. Allan Ballesteros, spokesman for the 600th Air Base Wing of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), said details of the war games and security measures for the American personnel were finalized during the meeting at the Holiday Inn Hotel at Clark.

"While only Marine personnel would be brought in by the Americans, the Filipino participants would include about 400 personnel from the Air Force, the Army and the Navy since the activities would both be airborne and ground-based," Ballesteros said.

The 15-member US panel, led by US Marines Col. Chuck O’Neill, arrived at Clark Field last Monday.

The Philippine delegation, also consisting of 15 members, was led by Air Force Lt. Col. George Capili, operations chief of the Air Reserve Command based at Clark Field, formerly a US air force base.

The war games will be staged at the Crow Valley target range in Tarlac, Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija and at the naval base in Ternate, Cavite.

"We expect the US military personnel to be flown in by CH-53 Super Stallions. We also expect them to bring in their FA-18 fighter jets and AH-1H Cobra attack helicopters," Ballesteros said.

For its part, the PAF will deploy its MG-520 helicopter bombers and OV-10 bomber jets, he added.

He refused to comment on security rules to be imposed for the participating US troops.

At the same time, Ballesteros also said talks have opened for the holding of another Balikatan joint military exercise next year designed to be bigger than the recently concluded Balikatan 02-01 held January to July this year in Basilan and Zamboanga City.

The exercise, which was plagued with controversies as militant groups strongly resisted its conduct here, involved about 1,600 US Special Forces and some 4,000 Filipino soldiers, the main force of which was used to track down Abu Sayyaf gunmen.

Meanwhile, the leftist fishermen’s group Pamalakaya called on the people to be vigilant against the proposed Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) between the US and the Philippines.

The group accused Washington of exerting pressure on the Arroyo administration for the approval of the MLSA which they said would pave the way for the return of US military bases to the Philippines.

"Until now, President Arroyo, her military and foreign affairs officials, have not shown the latest draft of the MLSA, keeping the 80 million Filipinos in an endless guessing game. The Palace failed to reply on the persistent query regarding the status of the draft," Pamalakaya said in a statement.

Pamalakaya spokesman Gerry Albert Corpuz claimed the government has scheduled approval of the MLSA within three months following the termination of the Balikatan 02-1 in Mindanao. — With Sandy Araneta