US-RP war games begin in Cotabato

CARMEN, North Cotabato — About 300 US troops and their Filipino counterparts began the annual "Balance Piston 06-02" war games here as part of the counterterrorism training in the fight against al-Qaeda-linked militants.

Military officials said about 30 American and 250 Filipino soldiers took part in small-unit tactics, rifle marksmanship, combat lifesaving training and field training exercises during the exercises at Camp Lucero here.

Participating US troops based in Fort Louis, Washington, are also deployed to medical missions in local communities in efforts to win the "hearts and minds" of Muslim residents in areas where Abu Sayyaf bandits and Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militants have been active.

Col. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the Army’s 602nd Brigade based here, said the month-long exercise will be confined within the 200-hectare compound of the camp, about a kilometer away from the town proper.

"There will be no tactical maneuvers outside of our camp. Filipino and US soldiers will only be allowed to go out of the camp for administrative and special concerns and with proper supervision, of course," Pabustan said.

US Maj. William Nagel, commander of the 35-member American training contingent, added the US Embassy in Manila will deliver assorted medicines and relief supplies for two relief missions in Barangays Pimbuluan and Mal-Mar here by the trainees.

The medical and dental missions in selected communities are meant train troops in civil relations and humanitarian outreach activities, he said.

Nagel allayed fears that the training exercise might trigger encounters with armed criminal and terror groups, including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and communist New People’s Army (NPA).

He said the training would be confined to within the Army camp here.

"We will look forward to conducting the training as realistically as we can to make sure that we can achieve our goals," Nagel said.

"The training is only about basic military skills... general skills for soldiers in all parts of the world," the American military officer said.

Both Nagel and Pabustan stressed that security had been tightened and that the visiting American troops would be mostly restricted to the camp to avoid a repeat of the incident last year involving four US Marines accused of raping a Filipina in Subic.

"Definitely, there will be stricter rules as far as going in and out of the camp is concerned," Pabustan said. Their joint assurances, however, were greeted by protests from concerned groups.

Yesterday, a Muslim group held a protest rally near the venue of the military exercises.

"We demand the pullout of US troops in Mindanao," said Amirah Lidasan of the group Suara Bangsamoro. — With AP, AFP