Groups call for US forces to leave Mindanao

http://www.mindanews.com

By Violeta M. Gloria / MindaNews

ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews/6 Feb) -- "We love Mindanao! US troops out now!"

Chanting these phrases, various militant groups under the US Troops
Out Now coalition vowed to expose the evils of the upcoming joint
RP-US military exercises dubbed Balikatan in the Lanao provinces set
to start Feb. 18. They have lined up almost daily activities here and
in the neighboring cities of Marawi and Cagayan de Oro.

They urged the Philippine government to stop the Balikatan exercises
and to boot out United States military forces in the country.

Bayan Muna national executive vice president Joel Virador, in a press
conference at the Elena Tower Inn here this morning, urged for the
repeal of treaties and agreements that allow the US military's
presence in Philippine soil, among them the Mutual Defense Treaty
(MDT) and the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

"We have long desired for self-determination, national sovereignty,
and lasting peace. We hereby declare our unequivocal opposition to the
ongoing US military expedition in Mindanao," he said.

The former Bayan Muna party list representative said that the US
soldiers' presence in Mindanao is "a transgression of the Philippine
constitution and a repression of human rights."

Sister Minda Obnimaga, of the Sisters Association in Mindanao (SAMIN),
called on Mindanawons to unify and join the cause to rid Mindanao of
US soldiers.

The campaign will highlight a series of "US intervention watch forums"
at the Marawi and Iligan campuses of the Mindanao State University,
and also at the Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro City. Youth and
students will also light candles starting 5 p.m. daily outside the
Elena Tower Inn, where seven US soldiers are reportedly billeted.

A Mindanao-wide caravan will culminate in a rally in Cagayan de Oro on Feb. 18.

They said that the presence of US troops in Mindanao is "just a way to
sugar-coat the permanent presence" of the US's special operation
forces in the Philippines after losing its bases in 1991.

US troops are expected to conduct humanitarian and medical missions in
the remote municipalities of Butig and Pualas in Lanao del Sur and in
Balo-i and Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte, and in Marawi
city.

Hana Balindong, of the Liga ng Kabataang Moro-Lanao, said that US
troops here because the superpower is interested in the natural
resources found in the Moro areas.

Virador accused the US of sending in mercenaries out to sow terror in
Mindanao, citing as example the case of Michael Meiring, who was
wounded when a bomb exploded in his hotel room in Davao City in 2002.
While recuperating from serious wounds at a hospital, agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation whisked him out of the country,
leaving Davaoeños to suspect there must be more to Meiring than just
the treasure hunter he claimed he was.

"We accuse Meiring of mercenary operations in our country. We believe
that there are other mercenaries like him operating in Mindanao who
are responsible for the series of bombings here," Virador commented.

"Who is sponsoring these bombings? Bring back Meiring here and let him
expose the truth," he said.

Virador noted that there has been a series of bombings of steel towers
bearing power lines of the National Transmission Corp. (TransCo) in
Lanao the past weeks just before the arrival of the US troops,
implying that these must have been staged to pave the way for the
arrival of the American soldiers.

But Bob Dawis, a ranking engineer at TransCo, said that such theory
"is a new story for me."

He said among the suspects is a land owner whose property was damaged
because of the inundation of water at the man-made lake in Balo-i
town, which impounded water of the Agus River to run a power plant's
turbine. (Violeta M. Gloria / MindaNews)