A militant lawmaker wants Congress to look into the United States military’s supposedly broadening involvement in Philippine military operations.
Gabriela party-list Representative Luz Ilagan said she would file a resolution to look into reports of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ extensive use of US spy planes, Predator drones and unmanned aerial vehicles in its military operations.
“If these reports are true, then US troops are participating in and conducting operations beyond what is allowed in the Visiting Forces Agreement and directly transgress our sovereignty,” said Ilagan in a statement.
She said the US military intrusion was a “potential magnet” that could draw the Philippines into a conflict in the region that might be instigated by the United States.
Ilagan was alarmed at reports that a recent military air strike in Sulu that supposedly led to the deaths of three leaders of the Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah terror groups was guided in by an unmanned US drone.
Ilagan said that talks between President Benigno Aquino III and US President Barack Obama on increasing the US military presence in the country had further heightened concerns over violations of the VFA.
“The presence of US troops and their direct combat participation had long been reported in Mindanao and had resulted in gross violations. These include the massacre in Ipil, Maimbung, Sulu, which resulted in the deaths of eight civilians and the shooting of Buyong-buyong Isnijal in 2002. We reiterate our call for the immediate abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement and an end to US military intervention,” Ilagan said.
For its part, the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) on Monday urged Malacañang to “come clean on the extent of the participation of US troops in the Sulu raid that killed alleged Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah leaders.”
In a statement, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said “the timing of the news on the air strike is suspect, coming in the wake of reports that more US troops are headed our way.”
“As an Inquirer columnist pointed out today, was it really the Philippine Air Force that conducted the bombing or did the US use unmanned Predator drones? The involvement of US troops in the air strike indicates their involvement in combat operations here, an act prohibited under our laws,” Reyes said.
On the 113th anniversary of the Filipino-American War on Saturday, the Bayan leader said: “Yes to the return of the Balanggiga bells and no to the return of more US troops and ships.”