RP-US Balikatan Exercises to be held on Feb. 18 – Mar. 4, to focus more on civic-military operations

By Ronron
January 23, 2007

The RP-US Balikatan Exercises for this year will be held from February 18 to March 4 in various parts of the country, including Sulu, the hotbed of Moslem extremist groups.

In a statement, the US Embassy in Manila said Tuesday that “Exercise Balikatan 2007 will focus primarily on humanitarian projects in Mindanao, especially Jolo Island, including multiple medical, dental, veterinary, and engineering projects carried out by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and US personnel.”

Asked for this shift of focus, embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop said by phone that a lot of military exercises anyway are being conducted in the country during the year, namely Talon Vision, Amphibious Landing Exercises (PHIBLEX), and Coopeation Afloat Reading and Training (CARAT) Exercises.

“We felt that it is best to focus on civil-military actions this time,” said Lussenhop.

The statement said there will be a separate “combined task force staff exercise to help improve Philippine and US civil-military personnel’s ability to work together to provide assistance in crisis and non-crisis circumstances.”

But on the actual training and exercises, the statement said: “US Navy ship visits and a Joint/Combined Exchange Training Exercise will also take place in several locations in the Philippines during Balikatan 2007.”

No information, however, is immediately available from the statement, from Lussenhop and the AFP regarding the specific venues of the exercises, as well as the number of participants from both the US and Philippines.

“We don’t have those details as of now. We’ll provide you with those as soon as we have them,” said Capt. Esteveyn Ducusin, the designated Public Information Officer (PIO) for the Philippine side for the Balikatan 20007.

Lussenhop also gave the same response when sought about the matter.

Asked how will participating US troops go about their rest and recreation to avoid the rape incident in November 2005 involving their personnel, Lussenhop said the approval this time of commanders for liberty activities would be very important.

This year’s Balikatan is the 23rd in the series and is under the authority of the Mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement of the Philippines and the US.

It almost did not push through after the US protested on the Philippine’s detention of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith, a convicted rapist, at the Makati City Jail in December last year instead of turning him over to the US Embassy.

Smith, a participant of the Talon Vision and PHIBLEX in 2005, raped a Filipino woman at the Subic Bay Freeport in Olongapo City, Zambales last November 1, 2005.

After his transfer to the US Embassy on the night of December 29, 2006, the US announced the resumption of the Balikatan this year./DMS