*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media
(NSI News Source Info) MANILA, Philippines - August 29, 2009: U.S. officials on Friday denied American troops were violating Philippine laws by engaging in combat against Muslim militants, saying they were only training Filipino soldiers and their mission was temporary. 
Humvees with US soldiers on board secure the bomb blast site at a commercial center in Jolo, on the island of Mindanao on July 7, 2009. At least six people were killed and more than 40 wounded by twin bomb blasts in the Philippines Tuesday, in what officials described as coordinated attacks by Al Qaeda-linked militants. The first bomb exploded in a commercial area on Jolo island, killing six people and wounding around 30, police said. It was followed around two hours later by car bomb blast next to a parked military patrol jeep in Iligan city.
Allegations that U.S. troops in the southern Philippines are building permanent structures and joining the fight against al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants have roiled nationalist and left-wing forces opposed to the American presence.
A retired Philippine navy lieutenant, Nancy Gadian, testified at a congressional hearing Thursday that U.S. troops were embedded with Filipino units in combat situations in violation of the Philippine Constitution, which bars foreign troops from fighting in the country.
"U.S. forces are not involved in combat operations," U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said in a statement Friday. She said American troops were on temporary deployment at the invitation of the Philippine military and government.
Several hundred U.S. troops have been stationed in several southern posts since 2002, training Filipino counterparts and sharing intelligence in their fight against the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for kidnappings, beheadings of hostages and bomb attacks that have victimized Filipinos and Americans.
Gadian was a planning officer for an annual U.S.-Philippine military exercise and was facing an investigation for alleged embezzlement when she accused her superiors of pocketing money. She later accused U.S. troops of violating Philippine laws.
U.S. Army Col. William Coultrup, commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in the Philippines, said the charges concerning U.S. troops were false and that he had never met Gadian.
The U.S. operation has a successful community development and humanitarian component, including dental and medical missions and projects to rebuild schools, roads, wells, and seaports and airports _ part of efforts to convince the local Muslim population to turn its back on militants.
The Pentagon cites the southern Philippines as an example of where U.S. efforts to train and advise other nations' militaries work well.
The left-wing group Bayan, which has led anti-U.S. protests, and former Senate President Jovito Salonga have asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a decision to uphold the Visiting Forces Agreement, which governs the conduct of U.S. troops. They say the agreement infringes on Philippine sovereignty and violates a constitutional prohibition of foreign military bases.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's top Cabinet aide, defended the 1998 agreement, saying it was key to the defense of the Philippines.
The U.S. military presence is a sensitive issue in the former American colony. In 1991, the Philippine Senate under Salonga voted to close down two major U.S. bases.
Humvees with US soldiers on board secure the bomb blast site at a commercial center in Jolo, on the island of Mindanao on July 7, 2009. At least six people were killed and more than 40 wounded by twin bomb blasts in the Philippines Tuesday, in what officials described as coordinated attacks by Al Qaeda-linked militants. The first bomb exploded in a commercial area on Jolo island, killing six people and wounding around 30, police said. It was followed around two hours later by car bomb blast next to a parked military patrol jeep in Iligan city.
Allegations that U.S. troops in the southern Philippines are building permanent structures and joining the fight against al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants have roiled nationalist and left-wing forces opposed to the American presence.
A retired Philippine navy lieutenant, Nancy Gadian, testified at a congressional hearing Thursday that U.S. troops were embedded with Filipino units in combat situations in violation of the Philippine Constitution, which bars foreign troops from fighting in the country.
"U.S. forces are not involved in combat operations," U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Rebecca Thompson said in a statement Friday. She said American troops were on temporary deployment at the invitation of the Philippine military and government.
Several hundred U.S. troops have been stationed in several southern posts since 2002, training Filipino counterparts and sharing intelligence in their fight against the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for kidnappings, beheadings of hostages and bomb attacks that have victimized Filipinos and Americans.
Gadian was a planning officer for an annual U.S.-Philippine military exercise and was facing an investigation for alleged embezzlement when she accused her superiors of pocketing money. She later accused U.S. troops of violating Philippine laws.
U.S. Army Col. William Coultrup, commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force in the Philippines, said the charges concerning U.S. troops were false and that he had never met Gadian.
The U.S. operation has a successful community development and humanitarian component, including dental and medical missions and projects to rebuild schools, roads, wells, and seaports and airports _ part of efforts to convince the local Muslim population to turn its back on militants.
The Pentagon cites the southern Philippines as an example of where U.S. efforts to train and advise other nations' militaries work well.
The left-wing group Bayan, which has led anti-U.S. protests, and former Senate President Jovito Salonga have asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a decision to uphold the Visiting Forces Agreement, which governs the conduct of U.S. troops. They say the agreement infringes on Philippine sovereignty and violates a constitutional prohibition of foreign military bases.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's top Cabinet aide, defended the 1998 agreement, saying it was key to the defense of the Philippines.
The U.S. military presence is a sensitive issue in the former American colony. In 1991, the Philippine Senate under Salonga voted to close down two major U.S. bases.
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