US stands by PH fight against terrorists, considers air strikes
United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Manila that Washington has decided to keep supporting the Philippines in fighting ISIS-affiliated extremist groups, while a report that came out in America said the US Department of Defense is already considering plans to allow its military to carry out air strikes in Mindanao.
Tillerson, who was in Manila during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministers
Meeting Monday, said there is no contradiction between Washington’s support of the Philippines fight against local terrorists and its criticism of the human rights abuses allegedly committed by the Duterte administration in its campaign against illegal drugs in the country.
“With respect to the assistance we’re providing the Philippine government to respond to ISIS, there is – there really is no, I think, contradiction at all in the support we’re giving them in the fight down in Marawi and Mindanao,” Tillerson told a press briefing in Manila.
“I see no conflict, no conflict at all in our helping them with that situation and our views of other human rights concerns we have with respect to how they carry out their counternarcotics activities,” he said.
The US government has been very vocal about its concerns over President Duterte’s controversial war on drugs.
In fact, last March, a report by the US State Department has flagged “significant concerns relating to human rights and due process” and other “multiple challenges” facing the Philippines’ war on illegal drugs on the watch of President Duterte.
Still, the US gave its assurance that it will continue to provide support to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) through both grant assistance and expedited sales of arms and munitions to support both long-term AFP modernization goals and urgent counterterrorism requirements.
Just recently, the US government donated two new Cessna 208B aircraft to enhance the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF’s) counterterrorism capabilities, particularly in Marawi City.
Under control Tillerson noted that most of what the US government is providing the Philippine military is “information, some surveillance capabilities with some recent transfers of a couple of Cessnas and a couple of UAVs to allow them to have better information in which to conduct the fight down there.”
“We’re providing them some training and some guidance in terms of how to deal with an enemy that fights in ways that is not like most people have ever had to deal with,” Tillerson pointed out.
Although what is happening in Marawi is “tragic,” he expressed his belief that the Philippine government is “beginning to get that situation under control.”
“But the real challenge is going to come with once they have the fighting brought to an end how to deal with the conditions on the ground and ensure it does not re-emerge,” Tillerson said.
US air strikes? Meanwhile, NBC News in the United States reported that the US Department of Defense confirmed on Monday (yesterday in Manila) that it is actively considering the adoption of plans that would allow the US military to carry out airstrikes on Islamic State-affiliated fighters in Mindanao.
Asked to comment, AFP Chief of Staff General Eduardo Año said “we at the AFP is yet to receive any formal notice or offer for such air capability deployment.”
“We appreciate Pentagon’s reported desire to help the Philippines in the fight against Daesh-inspired Maute Group because terrorism is a global menace that the community of nations must unite to fight against,” Año said.
“However, such proposition if any, has to undergo a process. And a covenant must be had between the Commanders-in-Chief of both nations before that option may be adopted,” he added.
In Malacañang, Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella said the US is barred by the Philippine Constitution to conduct military airstrikes on extremist fighters holed up in Marawi.
“While PH-US military alliance remain solid and robust, US military assistance to the Armed Forces of the Philippines is limited to technical assistance, information sharing and training,” Abella said.
He said the country has existing protocols under the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board with the United States under the purview of the PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951.
Año said said direct military actions may only be allowed during actual invasion of the Philippines by another state.
Russia Meanwhile, the Philippines and the Russian Federation have agreed to fasttrack negotiations for pending bilateral agreements, particularly on militarytechnical cooperation, illegal narcotics, and law enforcement in the country.
The agreement was reached during the bilateral meeting of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers Meeting held at the Philippine International Convention Center on Monday.
Cayetano said he was requested by Minister Lavrov to convey to President Duterte Moscow’s “solidarity with his efforts to eliminate any extremist threat to your country and our appreciation for your solidarity with Russia’s fight against terrorism.”
“We believe terrorism is something that must unite all of us,” Secretary Cayetano quoted Minister Lavrov as saying.
According to Cayetano, he expressed his gratitude to Lavrov for the offer of the Russian Ministry for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters to send a cargo aircraft carrying relief assistance for displaced families in Marawi.
Secretary Cayetano said Manila intends to continue pursuing what he described as the “irreversible momentum” in Philippine-Russia relations resulting from the independent foreign policy being implemented by the Duterte Administration.