Activists protest US presence in south.

Byline: Al Jacinto

ZAMBOANGA CITY: A Filipino anti-war coalition has demanded the closure of US military bases in the southern Philippines, where American troops are aiding local forces battle Abu Sayyaf militants and other rebel groups.

It said US troops have put up small bases inside Philippine military facilities in Zamboanga City and in other parts of central Mindanao where the American forces are said to be participating in combat operations against rebels.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon and members of the Legislative Oversight Committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement (LOVFA) inspected US facilities in Zamboanga City last week and said they found no military facilities, but only administrative buildings used by the US forces in humanitarian missions and joint trainings with local troops in Mindanao and Sulu archipelago.

"The US military base in Zamboanga City poses a clear and present danger to the Constitution and to the lives of people, but it seems that the LOVFA is more interested in covering up for the Americans instead of protecting the constitution and promoting peace in the country," said Mitzi Chan, of the Stop The War Coalition.

Chan's group has criticized the LOVFA's pronouncement that it found no US bases in Mindanao.

"This is clearly a case of feigned ignorance or a deliberate cover-up," she said, adding, the inspection headed by Biazon was a "sham" considering that it was hosted by those who were supposed to be investigated.

She said the LOVFA failed to interview anyone apart from those who have a stake in maintaining the base.

"How can we expect anything impartial from the so-called inspection when it was organized by VFA proponents, defenders of US military presence in the country, and officials who directly benefit from perpetuating the US base?" asked Chan.

"A former soldier, Biazon could not know that the US troops in Mindanao are not filing reports, doing bookkeeping, or other boring clerical work. They are very much at war and their presence is contributing to fanning its deadly flames," she said.

Chan also assailed former military general and now VFA Executive Director Edilberto Adan, who once headed the Southern Command headquarters, for failing to monitor the bases put up by the US forces.

"The VFA commissioner has an impossible job: On the one hand, he is mandated to go after Americans who commit any wrongdoing in the country. On the other hand, it also appears to be his task to tell the public that the Americans can't possibly do anything wrong," Chan said.

The Southern Command headquarters, now called Western Mindanao Command, houses the US Joint Special Operations Task Forces-Philippines.

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