Thursday, June 26, 2008 Group: Arroyo use kidnappings as excuse for US presence
WOMEN'S party-list Gabriela urged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to refrain from using kidnappings in the Philippines as a means to request for more US military presence in the country.
In a statement, Gabriela fears that inclusion of the recent Sulu kidnapping on the agenda of Arroyo's meeting with US President George Bush could be "a pretext for increased US military presence in the country."
Gabriela Representative Lisa Maza said: "US military presence and intervention will not resolve kidnap-for-ransom incidents in Mindanao just as it has not resolved the presence of armed groups, criminal activities and even insurgency."
"On the other hand, with the growing anti-US sentiment of Mindanaoans, increased US military presence can even breed further unrest in the already war-torn island," said Maza.
"While President Arroyo remains very much interested, if not desperate, in having the US government support her continued stay in Malacañang, there is no doubt that despite protests, she will cede to the US government's intent in keeping military presence as a forward base in the Asia Pacific region. And with the recent kidnapping of Ces Drilon and her crew, even volunteer this unfortunate incident as a convenient excuse," she said. (Press release)
