|
Protests Greet US Soldiers in Mindanao
 |
|
Muslim and women's groups demanded the pullout of US troops from Mindanao.
|
By
Rexcel Sorza, IOL Correspondent
MANILA,
January 17, 2006 (IslamOnline.net) – Some 3,000 members of Muslim
and women's groups on Tuesday, January 17, gave a rowdy reception for
US soldiers participating in a military training exercise with
Filipinos counterparts on Mindanao Island.
"It
is appalling that the Arroyo government has allowed the US troops to
enter the Philippine soil even at the height of the Subic rape
case," Luz Ilagan, the chairperson of the Gabriela Women's Party,
told IslamOnline.net on Tuesday, January 17, 2006.
A
court in Olongapo city, near the former US naval port of Subic Bay
north of Manila, has issued arrest warrants for four US Marines on
charges of raping a 22-year-old Filipina during a large-scale joint
military exercises with their Filipino counterparts late last year.
The
United States has spurned a Manila request to hand over the four
Marines to face criminal charges.
"The
US government has decided that it will retain custody of the four US
Marines accused of the crime of rape," the US embassy said
Tuesday.
The
case has drawn public attention in this former American colony and
triggered anti-US protests both in Olongapo and in Manila.
Some
legislators have also demanded that the government abrogate the
Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), a treaty that spells out the legal
framework for US soldiers in joint training exercises here.
Withdrawal
Luz
opened salvos at the joint military training exercise with the
American troops.
"To
say that the Balikatan are for anti-terrorism is a total
deception," she stressed.
"The
US eyes the Philippines, especially Mindanao, for its rich natural
resources and as a strategic military base in Asia and the
Pacific."
She
vowed continued protests against the US troops.
"We
intend to mobilize the greatest number of our ranks to register our
defiance against the entry of US troops. And we will continue to take
to the streets until the government of George Bush leaves us
alone."
Around
100 American and Filipino soldiers commenced their annual
"Balikatan" military exercise.
Some
3,000 United States military personnel are expected to arrive this
month for the training, a big contingent of which is going to the
Mindanao island of Sulu next month.
The
Mindanao People's Peace Movement (MPPM), a tri-people, grassroots
coalition of human rights and peace groups, NGOs, churches, the
academe and other institutions committed to lasting peace in Mindanao,
called for the pullout of all military troops from Sulu after a
week-long fact-finding mission on the island.
"Their
(US troops) presence is a provocative act considering the
commemoration of the centennial of the Bud Dajo (March 6, 1906) in
which more than 1,000 men, women and children of Sulu died in the
hands of American soldiers," the group said in a statement
received by IOL on Monday, January 16, 2006.
Vulnerable
 |
|
"Deploying US troops sends the wrong signals for their presence brings out old wounds," Lidasan said.
|
The
Suara Bangsamoro (United Voice of Bangsamoro), a Muslim group, also
demanded the withdrawal of American troops from Mindanao, the
birthplace of Islam in the Philippines.
"[We
demand] the pull-out of US troops in Mindanao as we've strongly
demanded the pull-out of Armed Forces of the Philippines troops in our
community and a stop to their military operations which has only
resulted to numerous disregard of the rights of the Moro [Muslim]
people," Amirah Ali Lidasan, the group's secretary general, told
IOL.
She
said that the Filipino Muslim communities in Mindanao "will be
very vulnerable to military operations of US and AFP troops" as
they have suffered from harassment and similar human rights violations
like being tagged as sympathizers and coddlers of terrorists.
Another
is the ever-continuing antiterrorism campaign that has affected
innocent Filipino Muslims.
"Our
communities have long been raided, zoned and our fellow Muslims
indiscriminately arrested in the bid to present terrorists," she
said.
Wary
Lidasan
asserted that the people of Sulu remain wary of the presence of US
troops despite promises that they will confine their activities to
medical missions, distributing sewing machines and constructing
infrastructures in the community.
In
a debate about Balikatan aired over a local radio station, the
representative of US troops in Sulu said that there are 250 US troops
deployed in Sulu and they will remain in Sulu "as long as there
are work to do".
"Both
the undetermined range of their stay and the work that they will do
are causing apprehensions to the people," Lidasan cautioned.
"The
250 figure are only those who will be paraded to the people, there are
suspicions that others will be part of the combat operations of the
AFP," she added.
Sulu
activist Cocoy Tulawie said that stronger US military presence on the
island will only worsen the already volatile situation.
"The
US forces will never win the hearts of the people by doing
infrastructure and other civic activities because we know about their
vested economic and political interests in Sulu and Mindanao," he
told IOL.
"The
US has a clear reputation for being anti-Muslim and for warring
against Muslim nations, so their mere presence might provoke war and
permeate a sense of fear and insecurity on the majority of the people
who have a clear mistrust against the US government."
Sulu
has been the stage of two war offensives by the AFP in February and
November of last year, which have caused massive displacement and
grave casualties.
Attorney
Nasser Marohomsalic, the head convener of the Union of Muslims for
Morality and Truth (UMMAT), agreed.
He
said that various cases have been brought before the Philippine
Commission on Human Rights, independent human rights groups, the
Congress, and the Senate implicating some US personnel in crimes
against civilians.
"The
Isnijal vs. Lane case never progressed for this US soldier was
immediately spirited out of the country. This case is a stark reminder
to all Muslim people that the US government will always arrogantly
assert that it is above Philippine laws just as it has abominably
refused to be bound to the rules of the International Court of
Justice," Marohomsalic told IOL on Tuesday.
Lidasan
questioned the government's commitment to realizing peace in Mindanao.
"Deploying
US troops sends the wrong signals for their presence brings out old
wounds and injustice to the victims of US aggression in the past, the
previous Balikatan exercises and the horrors that their fellow Muslims
in Iraq have faced at the hands of US soldiers."
|
