Human rights violations
As a Yakan growing up in Basilan’s capital town of Isabela, Abdurahim Ammalun said he used to find the US soldiers amusing.
But a later incident involving a resident of Tuburan town in Basilan, named Buyong-Buyong Isnijal, changed this.
Isnijal was shot in the leg when US and Philippine soldiers stormed their house in the middle of the night. His wife was also hurt. Suspected of being an Abu Sayyaf, he was arrested and put to prison.
The case of Isnijal is among the list of human rights violations allegedly committed by U.S. troops in the course of Balikatan exercises documented by Moro Human Rights Group, Kawagib (a Maguindanaoan term for Justice).
Sittie Rajabia Sundang (davaotoday.com photo by Jonald Mahinay)
Sittie Rajabia Sundang, Kawagib secretary general, said a U.S. soldier identified by witnesses as Sgt. Reggie Lane participated in the raid. But a fact finding report revealed that Lane was later shipped off to Okinawa and was never seen again.
In 2003, a stray bullet coming from American and Filipino soldiers doing shooting exercises inside their base in Malagutay hit a resident of Zamboanga City, Sundang said.
The victim was Arsid Baharun, who accepted amicable settlement with the US troops for fear that he might be charged as Abu Sayyaf.
In September 2006, Buh Bizma was doing the laundry in her house when she was hit by shrapnels from a bomb detonated during joint exercises in Barangay Tagbak, Indanan in Sulu.
These are just some of the human rights violations that Sundang’s group fears will repeat again if the Balikatan exercises continue.
Sundang said he could not understand why the US troops are still welcomed into the country when such cases are still unsolved. “Instead of heeding the people’s call to bring justice to the victims, the government extended the term of the US troops, instead,” Sundang said.
Such incidents give the Moro people more reason to fear Balikatan. “Bringing in Balikatan is like bringing back the human rights violators, who seem to be enjoying immunity. No one can talk to the US troops,” Sundang said.
Fahad Macarimbor (davaotoday.com photo by Jonald Mahinay)
She said there was hardly a member of the U.S. military personnel who answer up to the charges.
“If Duterte could not run after Meiring, how much more for us?” Sundang asked, referring to the case of suspected bomb expert, Michael Meiring, who even Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte could not extradite.
Meiring was reportedly inside a hotel room in Davao City when a bomb he was allegedly handling exploded. But on the same day, he was reportedly whisked away by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents from the hospital where he was confined.
Naida Bellecina, a young Tausug from Zamboanga Sibugay, blamed the administration of President Gloria Arroyo for the entry of US Troops.
“All that her administration does is to ape the war bravado of the US government, when it is supposed to be providing the needs of Moro youths,” Bellecina said.
She laments the condition of a lot of Moro youths who, instead of going to school, are now selling pirated CDs and DVDs on the streets just to make both ends meet.
Bellecina, herself, feels she has no chances of going to college because her family is poor.
For many of these young Moro, the coming of the US troops in Mindanao through humanitarian missions is a mere deception.
“Why do we have to receive such services from uniformed army personnel? Isn’t it supposed to be the duty of the government to provide us?” Ammalun asked.
“These are military deployment, disguised as humanitarian visits, she added. They should stop fooling us. We know that their presence in the country violates the Constitution. These troops give us aid with their right hand, while brandishing firearms that kill us with their left,” said Lidasan. (Cheryll D. Fiel, davaotoday.com)
