MALACAÑANG on Tuesday backtracked from President Duterte’s earlier pronouncement to kick out American troops from Mindanao, saying he was only warning them against a possible backlash from the Muslims because of their “unatoned” atrocities in the past.
Palace Spokesman Ernesto C. Abella clarified that Mr. Duterte’s pronouncement that US soldiers in Mindanao should leave to avoid worsening the security situation on the island “was not a policy yet, which is already executory.”
“It’s simply an injunction, a warning to them, because of the atrocities for which the US had not atoned yet,” Abella said in a news conference on Tuesday.
Abella added that President Duterte was merely providing a historical background as to why there is conflict in Mindanao and why there is a lot of distrust among the Muslims for US-backed initiatives.
Abella said the Muslims have not yet forgotten the massacre of the Moro people in 1906 during the American occupation, pictures of which Mr. Duterte flashed in his speech before fellow heads of state, including US President Barack Obama, at the Leaders’ Summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) last week.
Malacañang is adamant that no foreign leader could criticize the domestic affairs of the Philippine government, particularly the alleged human-rights violations committed by the police in their operations against the illegal-drugs trade.
“It is a lingering skeleton which removes the moral ascendancy of critics of the Philippines for supposedly human-rights infractions,” Abella said.
Meanwhile, Communications Secretary Martin M. Andanar said the security treaties between the Philippines and the US subsists, and that the RP-US Exercise Balikatan will still push through.
“It was clearly stated by the President that he will respect the treaties between us and our allies, and the agreement that we have regarding security and defense. The President will not disregard them. Our cooperation with our allies is continuing,” Andanar said.
“The interpretation of his pronouncements should be that the US soldiers should be wary in Zamboanga, and that it is better for them to leave because something might happen to them. That’s what he meant, and he was not kicking out the US soldiers or abrogating our treaties, like the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement,” Andanar added.
Meanwhile, the Armed Forces said President Duterte’s order for the pullout of American Special Operations Forces who are in Mindanao for counterterrorism operations “will only affect a small number,” as it assured the shipping out of US forces will not affect the country’s defense relations and military cooperation with the United States.
The recent pronouncement will affect only a token number of American servicemen who are confined mainly in Zamboanga City. They provide technical assistance and training to their Filipino counterparts in combatting terrorism in the Philippines. The number has dwindled, following the deactivation and pullout of JSOTF-P (Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines) several years ago, the military said in a statement through Public Affairs Office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo.
On Monday Mr. Duterte said US forces who are operating in Mindanao must leave the country, saying there would be no peace in that part of the country so long as they are there. Besides, they are also prone to kidnapping by Abu Sayyaf bandits who could kill them, thus, adding up to the prevailing problem of peace and order in the region.
US forces were basically in Mindanao to help the country, particularly the Armed Forces, in fighting or ending the problem of terrorism posed by the Abu Sayyaf and its international affiliates, including the regional terror group Jema’ah Islamiyah and the al-Qaeda network.
The Abu Sayyaf and other self-styled “terrorist groups,” such as the Maute Group based in Lanao del Sur, have also already pledged its allegiance to the Islamic State.
The President also rubbed the ebbing animosity between the Americans and the Moros by revisiting the “massacre” of Moros in the 1900s by American forces in Mindanao.
Arevalo said they recognized President Duterte’s concerns for the Americans operating in Mindanao.
“We take due notice of the pronouncement of the Commander in Chief, President Rodrigo Duterte, expressing his concern of the safety of US servicemen in Mindanao. Pursuant to the same statement, he desires that our American counterparts should be eased from harm’s way. This refers to Western Mindanao [in particular areas like Zamboanga, Basilan and Sulu], where intense military operations combatting terrorism are ongoing,” Arevalo said.
Despite Mr. Duterte’s order for the pullout, the military said it has yet to receive directives as to how the removal of US troops in Mindanao would be implemented.
“We are yet to receive any specific directive as to how this pronouncement will be effected. We understand that the implementation of the said pronouncement is the subject of deliberations by concerned departments, like the DND [Department of National Defense] and the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs], to mention some,” Arevalao said.
Both President Duterte and the Armed Forces did not say how many American soldiers would be affected by the order.
However, former Defense Secretary Voltaire T. Gazmin said in 2014 that the US will only maintain about 200 soldiers for the counterterrorism operations in Mindanao, following the staggered downsizing of its troops there that began in 2013.
The downsizing of US military troops assigned in the region was brought about by the improvements in the overall campaign against terrorism during that time.
Currently, the military is conducting intense operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan following Mr. Duterte’s order for the Armed Forces to finish off the bandits “to the last man.”
The US Special Forces came into the country in 2002 through the JSOTF-P and under the former George W. Bush administration’s global fight against terrorism. Their arrival followed the 9/11 attacks in the US.
During its peak, the US contingent numbered at least 500, or the size of a battalion.
Arevalo said the pullout will not affect the military relations of the country with the US, its strongest ally.
“We assure our people and allies that RP-US defense relations remain rock-solid. Activities lined up for the year continue without interruption. Consultative planning activities for 2017 and beyond, likewise, remain on track,” he said.
The Armed Forces conducts a number of joint trainings with American forces and this include the annual Balikatan military exercise, which is the biggest in Southeast Asia.
With Rene Acosta