Filipinos lament U.S. military presence

Christian Century, May 8, 2002

Church leaders in the Philippines have condemned plans to increase the number of United States troops in the country. A contingent of as many as 1,700 U.S. troops were expected to take part in training maneuvers in late April with 2,900 Filipino soldiers.

The U.S. may also send another contingent of 300 soldiers to join 600 Americans in the south of the country who are helping the Philippine army there to fight Muslim rebels, according to press reports. Americans have accused the rebels--called Abu Sayyaf--of having links to the al-Qaeda network that has been blamed for the September 11 attacks in the U.S.

The Philippine church leaders claim that the escalation of the U.S. war against terrorism in their region may lead to greater antagonism between Filipino Muslims and Christians and the further erosion of Philippine sovereignty. They are calling for political measures rather than military action to deal with Abu Sayyaf.

"It is a lie that U.S. troops are here to help the Filipino people," said the Council of Bishops of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines in a letter released in April. "The U.S. government has made its intentions clear: to hunt and punish those who are perceived to be America's enemies." Although the Philippines is a predominantly Christian country, several of its southern provinces are mainly Muslim. Arab traders brought Islam to the region in the Middle Ages.

The Abu Sayyaf group emerged in the early 1990s on the southern island of Basilan with the avowed aim of creating an Islamic state. The military presence on Basilan has reached unprecedented levels, according to Roland Simbulan, a university professor who took part in a recent international peace mission to the island. He said that more than 5,000 Philippine army troops and U.S. special forces were combing the island for members of the Abu Sayyaf group, which is said to number between 60 and 100 armed men.

Abu Sayyaf has engaged in kidnapping, hostage-taking and murder of Filipinos and foreigners alike. At least 500 people are reported to have been abducted by the group since 1992. Beheadings, rape and other atrocities have also been attributed to the group.

The UCCP bishops said that although Abu Sayyaf is "unquestionably driven by criminal motives," its emergence is linked to the wider grievances felt by Muslims in the Philippines. Any measures meant to counter Abu Sayyaf need to address the root causes of such behavior, the bishops said.

"Only a comprehensive solution acceptable to the Moro [Muslim] people can remove the reasons and basis for the existence of quasi-political bandit groups like the Abu Sayyaf. Then and only then may police and military action be necessary and effective," they said. The bishops also linked the U.S. action in Basilan to the wider issue of the presence of U.S. troops in the Philippines, a presence that is still highly controversial in the country.

Although an agreement on U.S. bases in the Philippines was abrogated in 1990, a visiting-forces agreement provides for continued U.S. military access to Philippine territory and facilities. "We are aware of the pervading U.S. domination in the economic, political, military, cultural and religious aspects of our national life," the UCCP bishops said. "The economic and military dependence of the Philippines on the U.S. has brought us to a miserable situation which is being exploited and taken advantage of by the U.S. government and its international partners."

A number of church groups and nongovernmental organizations have been setting up campaigns in recent months against the presence of U.S. troops in the country. Carmencita Karagdag of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines expressed fears that the country is being used as a testing ground for a broader U.S. military strategy directed against terrorism in the region. "The Philippine government's inability to stamp out criminality in southern Philippines cannot be made an excuse for furthering U.S. geostrategic, political and economic interests in the Asian region," she said.--ENI