US on ship in Zamboanga: No mystery

It’s not a warship, but a transport vessel. It’s in international waters on its way to Manila for a brief port call. And it is not involved in the hunt for Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants.

Officials from both the Philippines and the United States downplayed yesterday the sighting of a US naval vessel in the waters off Basilan and Zamboanga.

"There’s no mystery," US Embassy Press Attaché Matthew Lussenhop told The STAR, saying that the USS Joint Venture is expected to arrive in Manila next week.

US Army Lt. Col. Jacquelin Lyons, public affairs officer of the US Pacific Command, explained that the "high-speed vessel" is not a warship but a leased commercial ferry, "something like a catamaran," that will support humanitarian and civic projects in the Philippines under the two countries’ "Project Bayanihan."

"It’s like an experimental vessel that the (US) Navy is trying out," Lyons told The STAR. "Everything is according to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)."

Both the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Philippine Navy also gave assurance that the Joint Venture has not violated Philippine laws while in transit to Manila.

During its two-day port call in Manila next week, the ship will load humanitarian supplies for transport to Zamboanga.

Students of the Manila Science High School visited the Joint Venture when it docked in Manila last July. Lyons said schoolchildren might again be invited to visit the ship when it docks in Zamboanga later this month.

A press statement from the US Embassy yesterday said the Joint Venture "is scheduled for a variety of exercises, theater security cooperation events and port visits in the region."

"US vessels routinely transit through international waters in the vicinity of the Philippines, participating in bilateral exercises, and stopping at ports for friendly visits, rest and resupply," the statement added.

The DFA discussed the sighting of the ship off Zamboanga with US Embassy officials, department spokesman Gilberto Asuque said at a press briefing yesterday.

"No violation. It’s in international waters, just passing through Zamboanga City. It has not docked. It’s passing through in order to cross or to be in the high seas," Asuque said.

The embassy had sent the DFA a diplomatic note dated Oct. 3, seeking clearance for the ship to enter Philippine waters and make port calls to participate in Project Bayanihan, which started last Aug. 31 and will end on Dec. 31. Asuque said the DFA is awaiting concurrence from the Philippine Navy and the Department of National Defense for the entry of the ship, which came from Tarakan, Indonesia.

Navy chief Vice Adm. Ernesto de Leon said the ship has not violated the Philippines’ territorial integrity.

"The US Navy respects Philippine sovereignty and our diplomatic ties," De Leon said.

The sighting of the Joint Venture the other day had triggered speculation that US troops were helping in the manhunt for Dulmatin and Umar Patek, two Malaysians tagged as the masterminds of the nightclub bombings in Bali on Oct. 12, 2002 that killed 202.

"No, no, no, no, no," Lyons said, dousing the speculations.

Reports said Dulmatin and Patek, both members of JI, had been sighted with Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khaddafy Janjalani in Maguindanao.

The United States offered a bounty of $10 million for information leading to the capture of Dulmatin and another $1 million for Patek.

The Philippine Constitution prohibits foreign troops from engaging in combat operations in the country.

In 2002, US troops returned to the Philippines for the first time since the shutdown of the US bases here in 1992 to assist the Philippine military in operations that expelled the Abu Sayyaf from its jungle base in Basilan.

Since then the two countries, which have a Mutual Defense Treaty, have conducted several joint military exercises. US naval vessels have also made port calls in different parts of the country under the VFA.

The Philippines supports the US-led war on terror and is classified by Washington as a special non-NATO ally. — With Roel Pareño