Balikatan to continue focusing on humanitarian projects in Sulu, says US official

ZAMBOANGA CITY – The annual RP-US military exercise Balikatan will continue to focus on development projects in Sulu, the current base of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf bandits who are protecting Indonesian members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI), an American commander bared here yesterday.

Col. David Maxwell, chief of the US Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) said the joint exercises, however, will concentrate on road rehabilitation, construction of school buildings, water wells, and health centers, and other humanitarian projects to regain the confidence of the villagers and prevent them from supporting the Abu Sayyaf.

The coming Balikatan will be held from Feb. 18 to March 4 in Sulu and Central Mindanao, after the US temporarily suspended the joint training exercises last year following the controversy over the custody of Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith who was convicted last Dec. 4 of raping a Filipina identified only as "Nicole" inside a moving van at the former US naval base in Subic on Nov. 1, 2005.

Makati Regional Trial Court Judge Benjamin Pozon sentenced Smith to 40 years in prison and ordered the American detained at the Makati City Jail pending the appeal of the conviction.

Smith is was later transferred to the US Embassy in Manila after the Department of the Interior and Local Government ordered the return of the American detainee to US custody even without an order from the Makati court or the Court of Appeals, where the custody dispute was raised. The decision, however, was not opposed by the Court of Appeals.

Local officials in Sulu said the resumption of the military exercises that will intensify humanitarian projects, will draw the villagers away from the influence of the Abu Sayyaf.

"The Balikatan next month will be heavy on engineering capability doing humanitarian projects in many areas in Sulu," Maxwell said.

US Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, who visited Sulu last week, said the humanitarian assistance will continue with the coming joint exercises.

She said the successful "soft approach" in defeating terrorism can be a model that can be applied anywhere in the world by working with the people in the community.

Maxwell said medical missions will be conducted in Sulu and Central Mindanao as part of the Balikatan.

Maxwell said less field training exercises, however, will be conducted in Central Mindanao.

He said well-disciplined military personnel can conduct successful combat operations simultaneously with civil-military missions to "make lives better for the people."

He said several US warships will also visit the area to provide medical work in the near future.

Brig. Gen. Ruben Rafael, commander of the Joint Task Force Comet, said the Moro National Liberation Front is helping the military in the campaign against terrorist groups.

The MNLF, which forged a peace agreement with the government in 1996, has been giving assistance to the Armed Forces in the hunt for the members of the Abu Sayyaf and the JI in Sulu.

Rafael said that there are times that the military and MNLF jointly conduct combat operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

He said the military will soon crush the Abu Sayyaf group following the death of their chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani and logistics officer Jainal Antel Sali, alias Abu Solaiman.

Rafael said the military will intensify Operation Ultimatum that was launched on Aug. 1, 2006 to track down the Abu Sayyaf coddling Indonesian bomb experts Dulmatin, who goes by one name, and Umar Patek, both wanted for the 2002 bombings in Bali, Indonesia, where 202 people were killed.

He said with the recent killings of Janjalani and Solaiman, the Indonesians are now being protected by Radullan Sahiron.

The military is also hunting Abu Sayyaf leaders Isnilon Hapilon, Albader Parad and Abu Pula alias Dr. Abu.

Rafael said they hope to neutralize the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf and their JI cohorts, upon the directive of President Arroyo who has been commended by US President George W. Bush for the government’s successful campaign against terrorism. — With James Mananghaya