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Sunday, December 24, 2006
Canceled war games set back for RP: Palace
MANILA -- The cancellation of a large-scale US military exercise, due to a custody dispute over a Marine convicted of rape, will set back Philippine efforts to modernize its armed forces, the government said Saturday.
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The United States announced Friday it was canceling the annual "Balikatan" or "Shoulder-to-Shoulder" exercise, scheduled for February 2007, while Philippine courts review the custody of Lance Corporal Daniel Smith under the two countries' Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's spokesman said Manila respects Washington's decision to cancel the maneuvers, which have boosted the Philippine military's counter-terrorism capability -- particularly in the turbulent south, where al-Qaida-linked militants operate.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the Philippine government will "respect" the decision of the US government to cancel the joint military exercises, adding that it understands the US concern over the custody issue involving Smith.
"The cancellation of these exercises is a setback to our military modernization program," and to the countries' strategic alliance, which is "grounded on time-honored ties over more than a century," Bunye said in a statement.
Bunye said Arroyo's government is committed to using "all means" to transfer Smith to US custody, but asked for Washington's understanding of conflicts between judicial proceedings and state policy, which have resulted in "apparent noncompliance" with the VFA.
Bunye appealed to the US government and the American people to understand the vagaries inherent in the relationship between the executive branch and the courts under the "democratic separation of powers" in the Philippines.
He also invoked the long friendship between the Philippines and the US, which he said is "grounded on time-honored ties over more than a century." He hoped that the exercises would be put back on track soon.
The Balikatan 2007 exercise, meant to involve thousands of US military personnel, "has been canceled due to the current custody issue that's still working its way through the Philippine judicial system," US Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop said Friday.
Lussenhop said other smaller exercises, including humanitarian missions involving American troops, will continue, but that "we will be reviewing other US military activities as this case goes forward."
Smith, a 21-year-old from St. Louis, Missouri, was convicted by a Philippine court on December 4 of rape and sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Three other Marines were acquitted in the case. All four were in US Embassy custody during the trial, which stirred anti-American feelings in the former American colony.
Smith sought a temporary restraining order from the Court of Appeals against the decision by Judge Benjamin Pozon to detain him at the Makati city jail in suburban Manila during his appeal.
Pozon immediately ordered Smith's detention at the local jail over the objections of his lawyers, who cited a VFA provision giving the US custody of American service members until all judicial proceedings are completed.
Pozon said provision does not apply after a conviction.
The Philippine Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected Smith's petition to be transferred immediately from the Makati jail to US Embassy custody while he appeals his conviction. The appeals court said it must review Pozon's order before deciding whether the transfer should be allowed.
Smith's lawyers, the US Embassy and the Philippine departments of justice and foreign affairs have agreed that Smith's current detention violates the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement. (AP/JMR/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (December 24, 2006 issue)
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