US criticised for alleged meddling in recent clashes in Philippines

A member of the lower house of the Philippine Congress has assailed the alleged meddling of U.S. forces in the recent clashes between the Philippine military and armed guerrillas of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in the Southern Philippines. Representative Carlos Zarate of the Bayan Muna (Nation First) party said that U.S. military personnel were seen providing medical assistance to wounded government troops and two local journalists who were injured in a bomb attack in the town of Datu Ampatuan in Maguindanao province in Central Mindanao. The week-long fighting between government forces and the BIFF left 53 persons dead, mostly rebel combatants including three child warriors. Only one soldier was killed but scores were injured. The BIFF is a renegade Muslim rebel group that bolted from the mainstream Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) after the latter opted to talk peace with the Manila government. The BIFF is fighting for an independent Muslim state in the Southern Philippines. According to Zarate, the current visiting forces agreement (VFA) with the United States does not cover U.S. participation in any form inside a military camp during an ongoing operation. "I don't think it's covered. In the first place, why are they there in a combat zone? We have to remember that the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War started from supposedly providing so-called 'humanitarian' assistance, a clear euphemism for low- intensity intervention," Zarate said. Zarate said this humanitarian assistance would only justify and strengthen the "maneuvers" of the U.S. government for a more permanent presence in the country. Under the VFA, the United States is only allowed to bring military assets into the country during joint military exercises. But intelligence reports said that under the guise of aiding in the country's anti-terrorism campaign, American military personnel have been regularly sighted in Mindanao, especially during military operations against lawless elements in the island. Zarate, who called for a congressional investigation of the Maguindanao incident, said that the United States is clearly involving itself in the country's internal affairs. "This interventionist policy is highly condemnable and would surely escalate, especially with the so-called U.S. increased rotational presence in the country," he said. BIFF spokesperson Abu Misry Mama also said the participation of foreign troops in the tension in Mindanao would only further enrage the Bangsamoro people. "America is always meddling with the internal affairs of other countries. We believe that even the United Nations is afraid to reprimand America," Mama told newsmen. In a related development, a leading Manila daily recently exposed what could be considered the U.S. "hidden agenda" in exerting pressure on the Manila government to sign a peace accord with the MILF. Quoting a report by an in-house think tank of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Manila Times said the United States may be granted basing rights in Mindanao by the Bangsamoro political entity once the final peace agreement with the MILF is signed and set into motion. Both the Philippine government and the MILF have said that a final peace agreement could be signed by April this year. The paper quoted a book published by the Office of Strategic and Special Studies (OSS), a unit under the military, that said the United States played a pivotal role in the peace talks both directly, through "secret meetings" between U.S. officials and MILF leaders, and indirectly, by providing aid. "One thought is about an American-led plot to lend a debt of gratitude by helping Mindanao become independent and get repaid in terms of grant of U.S. rights to set up bases there," the OSS said in a book it published "In Assertion of Sovereignty: The Peace Process." According to the OSS, General Santos City in South Cotabato is being considered as the future site for a U.S. military base. The book said that from 1999 to 2008, six meetings between U.S. government officials and MILF leaders were reportedly taken place. "In February 2008, (former) U.S. Ambassador Kristie Kenney paid a visit to the main rebel base of Camp Darapanan in the town of Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao and met with MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad and Central Committee members," the book said. According to the book, the meetings were so secret that "the visit was done apparently with no prior coordination with the appropriate government authorities."