Peace Researcher 37 – November 2008
7 October 2008
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ON US
MILITARY BASING IN MINDANAO
An Appeal For Truth And
Vigilance In The Midst Of Deceit
The Citizens' Peace Watch is gratified that we are contributing in a small way
towards attaining the truth about US military basing in the country (i.e. the
We, however, raise issues with the manner by which the six hour-long
"inspection" was conducted. First, it was conducted by and only with
parties whose backgrounds cast immediate questions on their conclusions: they
are known proponents of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), are on record as
having defended or supported
Second, it was hosted by the very parties that
were supposed to be subjected to the investigation: the US and Philippine
military and defence officials who may be the very people responsible for the
violations being investigated by the committee. Like giving a crime suspect the
power to dictate what the Police can and cannot examine in a crime scene, the
inspection gave the organisers the opportunity to stage manage the inspection,
allowing the so-called investigators to see only what those being investigated
would have wanted to see.
Third, it appears that the LOVFA did not interview a single person whose
testimonies and opinions diverged from those of the ones being investigated.
They could, for instance, have sought out the airport official who claims that
the US has been expanding the structures it has been using inside the airport,
or the Commission on Human Rights officials that investigated the involvement
of US troops in the February 2008 incident in which eight civilians were
killed, or rank and file Filipino soldiers who have said that they are barred
from entering the Joint Special Operations Task Force – Philippines (JSOTF-P)
compound, therefore belying the claim that the JSOTF-P camp is under Philippine
control. This is like the Police not interviewing any witnesses whose
testimonies could pin the suspect. Fourth, that only a limited number of reporters
were allowed to cover limited moments of the event, raise further concerns on
the openness and transparency of the process.
None So Blind As Those Who
Will Not See
Given all these, it is no surprise that the
LOVFA members overlooked what they were supposed to oversee. It is not that
they did not catch sight of
The members of the LOVFA just refused to call what they saw as a "
The JSOFT-P headquarters in
Regardless of what are there, however, they are there for a purpose: to support
US military operations. Biazon's claim that the base is "administrative in
nature and not combat in nature" is contrary to how US and Filipino troops
themselves describe the activities the
A
Base Is A Base Is A Base
In other words, under the
In light of this, we with the Citizens Peace
Watch reiterate our call for a truly independent investigation into the issue –
an issue of grave constitutional import and an issue that affects the prospects
of peace in the country and beyond. We call for the formation of an independent
commission composed of people of unquestioned integrity and impartiality – none
of whom should have voted on the VFA or similar agreement before and none of
whom should have past or present ties with the military and the administration
– and with real powers and resources to inspect the military bases, to compel
officials to appear, to summon witnesses and to provide protection to them, to
conduct their investigation without interference from US and Philippine
militaries and the executive branch. Their findings could serve as the basis or
guide for further legislative and judicial actions on the matter.
Pending these actions, we reiterate our call for the suspension of the
deployments of US military troops to the country. No investigation can be fair
and thorough as long as the subjects of the investigation are in a position to
change the facts on the ground and to determine what can and cannot be
investigated. The Citizens Peace Watch believes that the truth about
About The Citizens' Peace
Watch
The Citizens' Peace Watch is an independent
initiative of concerned citizens brought together by various non-government organisations
and other civil society groups to continuously and consistently monitor the
peace and security situation in the country in order to contribute to
well-informed public debates and policy discussions.
REFERENCES:
[i] Citizens Peace Watch Final
Report of Fact-Finding Mission to Zamboanga City and Sulu, February 2008, http://www.focusweb.org/philippines/docs/CPWReport.pdf
[ii] "No Secret US Military
Bases Found in
[iii] United States Department of
Defense Dictionary of Military Terms, http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/data/b/00636.html.
[iv] Major Kevin T. Henderson, US
Army, "Army Special Operations Forces and Marine Expeditionary Unit
(Special Operations Capable) Integration: Something a Joint Task Force
Commander should Consider," monograph, United States Army Command and
General Staff College, School of Advanced Military Studies, 19/5/04; another
writer talks about a "Forward Operating Base 11" in the southern
Philippines (Cherilyn Walley, "Impact of the semi-permissive environment
on force protection in Philippine engagements," Special Warfare, September 2004); TD Flack, "When Visiting
Jolo, Show a Little Courtesy, Please," Stars
and Stripes, 12/3/07.
[v] "US denies building bases
in
[vi] Veronica Uy, "VFACom
Chief Denies
[vii] For more on the actual
activities of US troops in Mindanao, see
[viii] For more on these changes to
US basing strategy, see Focus on the Global South, “At the Door of all the
East': The Philippines in US Military Strategy”, November 2007, www.focusweb.org/at-the-door-of-all-the-east.pdf
A condensed version of this 140 page paper was published in Peace Researcher 36, August 2008, as “In
The Dragon’s Lair”, by Herbert Docena, which can be read online at http://www.converge.org.nz/abc/pr36-163.html.
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