RP Military Orders Transfer Of US Camp In Sulu

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 11, 2008) – The Philippine military said it would relocate a marine camp put up near a government hospital in the southern province of Sulu after a scandal involving US troops.

US troops in Sulu ordered last month a hospital in Panamao town to close every night and prevented medical personnel from treating patients after sundown. American troops who put up their camp at a Filipino marine base near the hospital even told the doctors to treat their patients at the municipal hall.

Dr. Silak Lakkian, head of the hospital, has complained about how US troops meddled into their operations. US soldiers also threatened to shoot anybody in the hospital incase there is an attack by terrorists. American soldiers have been in Sulu since 2006 to train local forces to hunt members of the Abu Sayyaf group said to have links to Al-Qaeda.

The meddling of US troops in local affairs drew widespread criticism and protests from provincial leaders and triggered calls from political activists in Manila for Congress and Senate to hold an investigation into the incident.

US military commanders in Sulu apologized for the incident and the Philippine military ordered the soldiers away from the hospital. US soldiers insist there is a threat against them in the town from suspected Abu Sayyaf militants.

“We will transfer the marine base and probably put it in another village,” Philippine Army Maj. Gen. Ruben Rafael told the Mindanao Examiner.

Rafael said they were considering transferring the base in the village called Bitan-ag, a former rebel stronghold also in Panamao town.

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan allowed the resumption of the hospital operations at night to cater to emergencies and patients in Panamao after a meeting with military and town officials.

“The hospital has resumed operations at night and everything is back to normal again,” Brigadier General Ruperto Pabustan, commander of the local Army Special Forces, said.

Philippine and US troops are to begin a new joint military training called Balikatan 2008 in Sulu in March.

Balikatan, which means "shoulder-to-shoulder," is the codename of the joint anti-terror drill held each year since 2001. The training is part of Washington security assistance to the Philippines, a key US ally in Southeast Asia in the so-called global war on terrorism. (Mindanao Examiner)

US Troops Losing War For Hearts And Minds In Sulu

SULU ISLAND, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 29, 2007) – Philippine authorities have began an investigation into disturbing reports that US troops deployed in Sulu province had ordered the closure of a government hospital in the town of Panamao.

The soldiers allegedly barged into the Panamao District Hospital on Dec. 3 and ordered its closure for a still unknown reason.

US troops are in Sulu province since early this year to assist and advice Filipino forces in fighting terrorism.

Dr Silak Lakkian, head of the hospital, has complained about how US troops meddled into their operations.

The news only broke out Saturday after local journalists learned about the incident, but US military officials were not available to make any statement.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan said he will personally on the reports involving US troops and has talked to Major General Reuben Rafael, commander of Philippine military forces in the province, about it.

“US troops have no authority to impose on us,” he said.

It was not immediately known whether the US military tried to cover up the incident, but General Rafael, also said that he will look into the reports. “We will look into this,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Local villagers and some Filipino troops also have complained about the arrogance of US soldiers in Sulu. Some US troops have allegedly treated Filipino soldiers like janitors and laborers in the province.

Heavily-armed US troops were also preventing curious Muslim villagers to go near them in public places as though the locals were terrorists.

American troops had in the past also harassed Filipino journalists who were covering joint RP-US military war games in Zamboanga City and Sulu and in some occasions arrested and seized the cameras of reporters who took photos and videos of them.

It was also in Sulu that hundreds of US soldiers slaughtered some 800 Muslim villagers, including innocent women and children, during the Moro rebellion in March 1906 that has become known as the First Battle of Bud (Mount) Dajo also called the “Moro Crater Massacre.”

During this battle, 790 men and officers, under the command of Colonel J.W. Duncan, assaulted the volcanic crater, which was held by several hundred rebels protecting Muslim villagers.

This dark part of history always hound US troops in Sulu where activists and villagers opposed their presence in the province. It was unknown how the Panamao incident will affect the presence of Americans in Sulu. (With reports from Nickee Butlangan and Juan Magtanggol)

Fighting Erupts In Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 22, 2007) – Fierce clashes between government soldiers and rebels erupted Saturday in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, leaving a still undetermined number of gunmen dead and wounded, officials said.

Officials said one soldier was killed and another wounded in the fighting that broke out in the village called Pangdan-pangdan in Kalingalan Caluang town.

Four civilians were also wounded in the clash, said Army Major General Reuben Rafael, commander of military forces on the province.

“We still do not know how many rebels were killed or injured, but intercepted radio messages suggested more casualties on the rebel side,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said troops clashed with rogue members of the Moro National Liberation Front, backed by Abu Sayyaf militants, whose group is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terror network.

The fighting lasted for several hours with government planes bombing rebel positions in the town’s hinterland. But clashes on the ground were much more difficult as rebels fleeing pursuing soldiers snatched villagers and used them as shield.

It was unknown whether some villagers were abducted by retreating rebels, but General Rafael has confirmed that four civilians were shot and wounded by gunmen as they escaped.

The four civilians, he said, were rushed to a military hospital after soldiers rescued them during a running gun battle.

Soldiers recovered seven automatic rifles and ammunition in the village left behind by rebels under Commanders Opagu and Alawi, whose first names were not immediately known, but both were sub-leaders of the MNLF renegade faction and Abu Sayyaf.

Sulu Governor Sakur Tan has ordered policemen and soldiers to secure the villagers and bring them to safer areas far from the fighting.

Fighting also erupted last month in Kalingalan Caluang that left 8 soldiers and four rebels dead.
The Abu Sayyaf have been blamed for past attacks and kidnappings-for-money in the southern Philippines, while the MNLF signed a peace deal with Manila in 1996, but many were disgruntled with the accord and joined other rebel groups.

The MNLF has repeatedly accused the government of reneging on the agreement, which Manila strongly denied. Under the peace deal, the Philippine would have provided a mini-Marshall plan and livelihoods and housing to tens of thousands of rebels.

In 2001, MNLF gunmen, who were loyal supporters of Nur Misuari, attacked and tried to capture a major military base in Sulu province and another group seized more than 100 people in Zamboanga City.

After the attacks, MNLF chieftain Nur Misuari fled to Sabah by boat, but was captured by Malaysian authorities and eventually deported to the Philippines. (With a report from Nickee Butlangan)

4 Killed In Fierce Fighting In Jolo Island In South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Aug) – Three Abu Sayyaf militants and a government soldier were killed in fierce fighting Wednesday morning in the southern Philippine island of Jolo, a military commander said.

Army Major General Ruben Rafael said five more soldiers were wounded in the fighting in the village of Lanao Dakula near Parang town.

He said troops clashed with about 70 Abu Sayyaf gunmen under Radullan Sahiron, wanted by both Manila and Washington for the spate of kidnappings of foreigners and terrorism in the troubled south.

“We have recovered the three bodies of the terrorists and several high-powered weapons, including a 90mm recoilless rifle and munitions left behind by the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.

Troops stormed a terrorist hideout in the hinterland village and sparking daylong clashes. Security forces also clashed Tuesday with the Abu Sayyaf in Jolo island.

Army Major Eugene Batara, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City, said sporadic clashes were reported Tuesday afternoon in the village of Sampunay, but there were no immediate reports of enemy casualties.

“There could be new Abu Sayyaf casualties. Fighting is going on,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

The Abu Sayyaf originally was fighting for a strict Islamic state, but the group resorted to banditry and terrorism after its chieftain Abubakar Abdurajak Janjalani, a Libyan-trained firebrand, was killed by policemen in Basilan island in 1998.

His younger brother Khadaffy Janjalani, who took over the Abu Sayyaf group, was himself killed in a battle with U.S.-backed Filipino troops in Jolo island in September 2006.

Janjalani was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of two Americans in the southern Philippines. (Mindanao Examiner)