US-RP ‘games’ Feb. 18

February 10, 2008  --  Got something to say?
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MANILA Teams of the US elite Special Forces will arrive in Misamis Oriental and in the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte starting Feb. 18 as part of the RP-US Balanced Piston Balikatan exercises, Philippine military officials said recently.

The joint exercises, which will also see the deployment of American troops in other parts of Sulu, Western and North Eastern Mindanao, will last until March 3. This will be the first time US troops will go to the Lanao provinces and Misamis.

A reporter in Cagayan de Oro said he already saw a team of US soldiers in Camp Edilberto Evangelista, headquarters of the Army Fourth Infantry Division in Barangay Patag, this city recently.

Major Mitchel Anayron, public affairs officer of the Army Fourth Infantry Division (4th ID) said the US soldiers were there to conduct pre-planning conferences with Army officials for the three-week exercises.
He said the US military officers are also expected to coordinate with local government officials where they will be deployed next month.

A Philippine Army engineering brigade from Bukidnon will go with the US soldiers to construct school buildings and bridges,” Maj. Anayron said.

Maj. Rodrigo Sosmea, Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command spokesperson, said US soldiers could be deployed in the Lanao areas where there is a strong presence of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Maj. Sosmena, however, clarified the US soldiers will not be conducting war games but will be holding a series of medical missions and some engineering works.

While the two Lanao areas were initially identified as the site for the Northern Mindanao exercises, other places could be considered, toosuch as Cagayan de Oro, the Army official said.

Talks between the MILF and the Philippine government hit a snag last year over issues on ancestral domain.
MILF military spokesperson Eid Kabalu, warned anew the US soldiers not to antagonize our forces, or threaten our facilities.”

Government and US forces joining the Balikatan should avoid things that we may all regret later. We advise that the activities lined-up in the Balikatan should be coordinated with us,” Kabalu told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro by phone.

US forces have already held two similar exercises, often near MILF guerilla bases in Central Mindanao without any incident in 2004 and 2007.

The Philippines and the United States formally signed last November an agreement extending for five years a military logistics support arrangement.

The extension of the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) was discussed for about a year before its expiration in November last year.

Washington has similar military-to-military arrangements with 56 countries and considers them executive agreements requiring no ratification by the legislature. Manila signed its first five-year MLSA with Washington in 2002.

US Ambassador Kristie Kenney confirmed the extension.
The signatories for the US in the new MSLA were led by Army Col. Mathias Velasco, head of the Joint US Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG). The Philippines was represented by a military general.

Officials said there were no additional provisions in the new MSLA. The Americans have maintained that they do not intend to open new bases in the Philippines.

Since 2002, hundreds of US troops have been regularly deployed in Mindanao under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines mainly in intelligence-gathering and training to fight terrorists. US forces also conduct regular civic-medical missions and engineering work.


Posted by News Team | Filed Under US News 

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