US and Philippine military massacre civilians in Maimbung, Sulu

In the early morning of 4 February, while the villagers were sound asleep, troops of the reactionary Armed Forces of the Philippines launched an armed attack on the fishing village of Ipil in Maimbung town, Sulu, in the southern island of Mindanao. They massacred at least eight civilians, including two children aged 4 and 9, two teenagers aged 15 and 17 and a pregnant woman, and a soldier who was on leave at that time. The military operations also caused the wounding of many other civilians and destruction of property.

The AFP tried to cover up the massacre by saying that it was a legitimate operation and that the victims were members of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG). The women and children who were killed, they said, died in the crossfire. The surviving victims, their families and local government officials however vehemently belied these claims of the military. They asserted that the victims were ordinary seaweed farmers and fisherfolk, and not members of the Abu Sayyaf Group.

The ASG is a creation of the AFP and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1991 to undermine the Moro people’s struggle for self-determination. It has since turned into banditry, kidnapping for ransom and terrorism, but continues to be handled by military officers.

But what is so damning about the Maimbung massacre aside from the killing of civilians is the presence of US military forces in the area. Eyewitness and survivors’ accounts report seeing heavily armed US soldiers in the area while the carnage was going on. There were even reports that what happened in Maimbung was part of the joint military exercise between US and Philippine troops called Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder), a sort of practicum for the Philippine military. This is not farfetched since soldiers that attacked the Ipil village belonged to the Light Reaction Company, a unit composed of soldiers who have undergone specialized training from the US military during the joint military exercises.

The specialized US military training produced brutal results in the fishing village of Ipil: civilians were attacked; the children were shot in the head; victims’eyes were gouged out; and fingers and ears were sliced off.

This was not the first time that the US troops have taken part in AFP military operations in Sulu. In early 2007, US troops were present during an armed encounter between the AFP and the Moro National Liberation Front in Indanan town, Sulu. During that period, US military personnel were supposedly building roads in Indanan while the AFP troops were launching big military operations in the entire province.

The US use the so-called humanitarian missions of building roads, bringing relief goods and medical services to neutralize people’s resistance against its presence and to cover up the real purpose of the joint exercises. According to Command Sgt. Maj. William Eckert of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTFP) in his article “Defeating the Idea:Unconventional Warfare in the Philippines”: “Working in close violations including extra-judicial killingscoordination with the US Embassy, JSOTF-P uses Special Forces, Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations forces to surveillance and reconnaissance in very focused areas, and based on collection plans, to perform tasks to prepare the environment and obtain critical information requirements. The information is used to
determine the capabilities, intentions and activities of threat groups that exist within the local population and to focus US forces – and the AFP – on providing security to the local populace. It is truly a joint operation, in which Navy SEALs and SOF aviators work with the AFP counterparts to enhance AFP’s capacities.”[Bulatlat.com]

The presence of US military personnel in the Philippines must be seen in the context of the US’ continuing control of the social,economic, cultural and military aspects of Philippine society, and of the Philippines as the second front in the so-called US war on terror. The Philippines is an ideal launching pad for future attacks against enemies of the US especially in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.

The people condemn the Balikatan exercises, the presence of US troops, andUS military aid as having exacerbated the already tense and dangerous situation in the country, and in Mindanao in particular, and has led to increasing human rights and forced disappearances.

They demand a pull out of all US troops, a stop to the joint military exercises, the conduct deliberate intelligence, scrapping of agreements and treaties between the United States and the Philippines such as the Mutual Defense Treaty, Visiting Forces Agreement and Mutual Logistics Support Agreement.

American soldier in Japan rapes Filipina

A Filipina migrant worker was raped by an American soldier in Okinawa, Japan on February 18. The victim has filed charges against the rapist and is now under the protection of the Okinawa police.

The incident has fueled outrage anew among Filipinos. Successive protests were launched by various women's groups led by Gabriela, at the US embassy to condemn the rape and push for an end to US military presence in the Philippines and other Asian countries. The militant women's group likewise condemned the Arroyo regime's inaction over the issue. If this case is not closely monitored, said Gabriela, the puppet regime will surely cover up the crime just as it did on the rape case of a Filipina in Subic in 2006.

In a related development, 52 women representatives passed a resolution supporting the victim in filing charges against the American soldier. They also called on the Arroyo government to provide legal and financial assistance to the victim throughout the duration of the case and urged the Arroyo government to file a diplomatic protest against the United States.

The Japanese people likewise abhor the US military ases and the huge American military presence in their country. The rape of the Filipina in Okinawa occurred just a few days after an earlier rape of a 14year old Japanese student by another American soldier. Outraged, the local government of Okinawa imposed a curfew and restricted American troop movement in the area. Irate Okinawans also set up a surveillance camera at the gates of the base to monitor the soldiers' movements. They have long been demanding the immediate pullout of all American troops due to repeated cases of human rights violations and the trampling of the Japanese people's sovereignty.

Jonas Burgos listed in the AFP Order of Battle

Jonas Burgos listed in the AFP Order of Battle

EDITHA Burgos, mother of missing activist Jonas Burgos recently said in an interview that a military secret report states that her son was listed in the Order of Battle (OB) of the AFP, which establishes the motive for his abduction by military agents. The OB is a military list of targeted enemies.

According to Mrs. Burgos, a soldier (who requested anonymity) belonging to the 56th IB of the Philippine Army based in Norzagaray, Bulacan disclosed that Jonas was suspected to be the head of the NPA Intelligence Department in the province of Bulacan and hid under the aliases Ka Raymond, Ka Ramon or Ka Simon.

Jonas has reportedly been in the AFP OB since Marso 17, 2007. The document also revealed that the military was behind his abduction in the Ever Gotesco in Quezon City in April. He underwent tactical investigation first before being reported "neutralized", a military term for "killed."

The military has also implicated Jonas' wife Marian, whose cousin has suffered harassment from persons who introduced themselves as members of the Commission on Human Rights who were trying to locate Jonas' wife and child.

Mrs. Burgos disclosed the information in the course of hearings at the Court of Appeals on her family’s petition for a writ of amparo. Mrs. Burgos has also brought the campaign to surface Jonas to the United States.



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Moro groups file case on Sulu massacre at UN rights body

The Suara Bangsamoro and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front will file a case before the United Nations Human Rights Council on the massacre perpetrated by the Special Warfare Group ofPhilippine Navy and Light Reaction Company of the Philippine Army. The massacre, which took place at dawn of February 4 claimed the lives of eight civilians from Ipil, Maimbung, Sulu. The announcement was made after the AFP absolved the soldiers responsible for the massacre.

Suara national chair Amira Lidasan called the results of an AFP probe claiming the slaughter was a legitimate encounter with the Abu Sayyaf "incredible". An investigation had yet to be made but the AFP had been quick to conclude that the victims were either members or coddlers of the Abu Sayyaf. The AFP merely reiterated the same line when it released on February 28 the results of an alleged investigation conducted by the Judge Advocate General's Office of the Western Mindanao Command.

The findings of an investigation by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) released earlier revealed that no real encounter took place in Maimbung that day and that none of the victims was an Abu Sayyaf member. The report detailed how government troops assaulted the island village of Maimbung and gunned down residents as they pleaded for their lives and shouted that they were civilians.

Two of the raiders were also killed and five others wounded when they mistook each other as enemies and traded shots, according to the CHR.

The one-sided AFP investigation came under severe criticism, prompting Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, to announce that the results of their probe were just preliminary and that the soldiers involved in the incident were not yet in the clear.