US troops in Balikatan told to behave

MANILA, Philippines - Some 6,000 US troops participating in joint RP-US Balikatan exercises were told yesterday to behave after a rape case involving a US Marine led to a diplomatic spat, an official said.

The Balikatan exercises formally opened yesterday.

Bilateral relations between the anti-terror allies are on the mend, three years after US Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith was convicted of raping a Filipina while in the country to take part in joint exercises.

Brig. General Ronald Bailey, head of the war games for the US side, said his wards were to work side by side with their counterparts mostly on humanitarian missions that would benefit impoverished areas in Luzon and the Bicol Region.

His men will work to gain the “respect and trust” of the local communities, while at the same time sharpening teamwork skills with their counterparts.

Troops were told to “always respect the culture of this country” and to behave themselves during their two-week stay.

“And also, good order and discipline is always paramount in the minds of all our Marines, sailors and airmen, all the time,” he said.

Washington had previously threatened to scuttle the war games after Smith was convicted, but softened its stance after the courts agreed to transfer him to the custody of the US embassy while the case is on appeal.

But the move has led to public outrage and triggered calls from Philippine nationalists to review its defense treaty with the US, with some calling for Smith to be remanded to a local jail.

However, the case took an unexpected twist last month when Smith’s victim recanted her testimony.

The woman, who now lives in the United States with her American boyfriend, said she wasn’t sure whether Smith had actually raped her. The justice department however has said her new testimony will not “undo” the verdict.

In a ceremony formally starting the exercises yesterday, acting US deputy ambassador to the Philippines Thomas Gibbons, foreign affairs undersecretary Enrique Manalo, and Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Alexander Yano declared open the two-week-long exercises in a ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

This year’s exercise would involve engineering and medical civic action projects in the towns of Irosin and Uban in Sorsogon; Ligao City, Guinobatan, Camalig and Libon in Albay; General Nakar in Quezon and Nakar town in Aurora.

The engineering projects involve the construction of roads, school buildings and water facilities.

There are about 2,500 Filipino and around 4,000 US troops who would take part in this year’s exercise, which is already on its 25th year.

Infrastructure projects that are part of this year’s RP-US bilateral military exercises started early this month to give engineers enough time to finish the projects within 30 days, or until the exercises end next month.

About 100 engineers from the US military will arrive in the country this week. This contingent would be backed by 300 personnel from engineering units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

One significant part of the project is the construction of a three-kilometer road that would link Pio Duran to Donsol, Sorsogon, providing easy access to tourists who would like to see whale sharks or butanding in the area.

On the other hand, medical and other civic action projects in Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon already started yesterday.

These medical and dental missions would benefit more than 12,000 residents of the three provinces.

More than P60 million has been allotted for these projects funded by both countries. - James Mananghaya