U.S. marine presence in Philippines to increase

An article in a U.S. marines publication notes that more marines will be visiting the Philippines. At present the U.S. is involved in Joint Special Operations Task Force--Philippines. The paper describes this as a clandestine unit although it is hardly a secret that they are there!

The units work with the Philippine Armed Forces training them in counter-terrorism against Islamic militants mostly in Mindanao but also against the NPA Maoist rebels who have been operating in various rural parts of the Philippines for decades. They also carry out joint humanitarian operations.

However operations are to be expanded with more troops, aircraft, and ships visiting say U.S. and Philippines officials. U.S. General Joseph Dunford said that in coming years hundreds of marines will deploy to the islands as Obama emphasizes a focus on Asia.

Neither the American nor Philippine government have given much detail about the deployments. There are no U.S. permanent bases any longer.as the government demanded closure of the Subic Bay base in 1992.

Some groups in the Philippines are opposed to the U.S. military presence. There have been several incidents where U.S. soldiers have been charged with rape. The accused are taken into U.S. custody under the status of forces agreement. Some want changes to the agreement.

However the Philippine foreign affairs secretary said to Reuters:“We would like the Americans to come more often,. “Let’s have these joint training exercises more frequently and on a bigger scale — as many times as we can, in different places if we can.” A joint exercise called Balikatan runs from April 16--27 every year. This year will see disaster-relief training in Palawan and Luzon. About 4,500 U.S. and 2,300 Filipino soldiers will take part.

The Philippine government wants the U.S. on side to press for the Philippine claim to the Spratly Islands that are also claimed by China. There are undersea oil resources in the region.

China sees the renewed U.S. activity in south-east Asia as a provocation. One can imagine if China carried on similar activity in Cuba. For more see the full article. The U.S. will.also send more troops to Australia as well.

Diplomat: Philippine Ties with China in serious jeopardy.

This is from abs-cbnnews. On the other hand if the Philippines makes a good deal with China and Vietnam on oil exploration and development in the Spratlys the U.S. may not be happy. If Arroyo gets in trouble maybe the U.S. will not let her and her hubby run off to some undisclosed properties in the U.S. one destination for Filipino politicians under distress or investigation at home. This is from bulatlat.
"Two cause-oriented groups disclosed that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, Mike Arroyo, did not include in their joint Statement of Assets and Liabilities (SAL) from 1992 to 2002 a multi-million dollar real estate properties acquired in the United States since 1992.

Based on documents obtained by the fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya, or National Federation of Small Fisherfolk Organizations in the Philippines) and the peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasant Movement of the Philippines), the latest property acquired by the Arroyos was a real estate property located at 1510 Austin St, San Francisco, California on Sept. 1, 1999 from Jerry Benjamin and Karen M."




RP ties with China in 'serious jeopardy', diplomat warns


By Estrella Torres
Business Mirror

A SENIOR diplomat has warned that the Philippines’ diplomatic relations with China “is in serious jeopardy” owing to the controversy surrounding the National Broadband Network deal (NBN) with ZTE Co. that has dragged other bilateral agreements with that country.

The official said the NBN-ZTE controversy is not in anyway linked with the Joint Marine Seismic Undertaking (JMSU) and even the Spratly issue that has been subject to diplomatic reviews for almost 10 years.

“We are putting our diplomatic relations with China, in serious jeopardy because the ZTE investigation is being linked with the JMSU. The Chinese government is now protesting the way we [Philippine government] handle the matter,” said a senior official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), who spoke on condition of anonymity.

She believes that the US government, a major economic rival of China, is “fueling” the opposition to the JMSU.

“The US has been wanting to be involved in the oil exploration in the South China sea but the Philippines has already agreed to undertake this with China,” said the diplomat.

Also, the US Embassy in Manila also expressed concern over the award of the NBN project with China’s ZTE because a US telecommunications company lost in the bidding.

The eroding trust in the Arroyo administration is compounding the problem, she said. “The problem is, the Arroyo administration has lost its credibility to govern and anything it does now is being viewed with distrust.”

DIPLOMATS GUIDED PNOC ON JMSU

Another DFA official privy to the negotiations on JMSU, meanwhile, said the agreement with China and Vietnam was separately negotiated from the economic agreements with China, which include Northrail and the NBN project with ZTE.

The official explained the JMSU was internally discussed by an inter-agency team that includes officials from the DFA, National Security Council, Department of Energy and the Department of Justice. It was the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) that negotiated the JMSU as a commercial agreement with its Chinese and Vietnamese counterparts.

“Although the JMSU is a commercial agreement by nature, the PNOC was provided with policy guidance by the inter-agency team that includes the DFA, because the seismic activity would have implications on the respective claims to the Spratly Islands by the Philippines, China and Vietnam,” the official said.

The JMSU was signed by the Philippines, China and Vietnam in September 2005 as part of the confidence-building measures of claimant countries to the Spratly Islands, she said.

The diplomat recalled that the interagency team conducted strings of meetings at the DFA to discuss the JMSU, “because not only were we going to break new ground in regional diplomacy but we also had to make sure it was above board.”

She said the JMSU is guided by the Constitution and the Declaration of Conduct on the South China Sea, a Philippine-initiated agreement signed by China, and the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on November 2, 2002.