ZAMBOANGA CITY (February 18, 2008) — Members of a citizens’ fact-finding
mission walked up inside Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City and confirmed the
presence of a little known fortified US military base with communication
facilities inside the Philippine military camp.
Asserting the right to information and transparency, the Citizens’ Peace
Watch knocked on the doors of the base requesting to inspect its premises
and to meet with officials of the Joint Special Operations Task
Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P).
The JSOTF-P is the unit of US Special Forces that – unknown to many
Filipinos – has been headquartered in the said US military base in this
city since 2002 and has been deploying to various parts of Mindanao since
then.
The members of the Citizens Peace Watch were told to wait, and they waited,
only to be fetched by a Filipino soldier called up by the JSOTF-P to send
the group away.
The JSOTF-P later sent a fax to the group saying they don’t have the
authority to grant the request for a visit. They claim to have forwarded
the request instead to the Armed Forces of the Philippines which is
supposedly in the position to decide on the matter.
Such an explanation, however, was contradicted by a Filipino military
official whom the group interviewed inside the same camp. Capt. Vicente
Enriquez of the Western Mindanao Command had earlier told the group that it
was not up to the AFP to approve any requests to visit the US military
facilities. Only the US military can decide, Enriquez said.
Even Filipino soldiers, Enriquez stated, are not allowed to enter the
military base without the US military’s permission.
“By the Philippine military’s own admission then, what we have here is
clearly a US military base that is outside the control of the Philippine
military, where the US exercises sovereignty within Philippine territory,
and that is off-limits to Filipino citizens,” noted Atty. Corazon Fabros, a
member of the Citizens’ Peace Watch.
“The ‘visitors’ have not only stayed on, they have set up camp in our house
and told us – their hosts – to go away,” added Fabros.
The US military base stands out and is sealed from the rest of Camp Navarro
by walls, concertina wire, and sandbags. The actual size of the area it
occupies could not immediately be established from the outside. But
communication facilities such as satellite dishes, antenna, and other
instruments are visible.
US Marines provided protection for the facility; some workers were seen
wore IDs identifying them with DynCorp, a controversial US military
contractor.
What other facilities were inside the base is also unknown but the US
embassy – responding to an earlier report exposing the granting of a
P700-million peso contract to a company providing “base operations support”
– had confirmed that they are constructing structures for “medical,
logistical, and administrative facilities” for US troops “to eat, sleep,
and work.”
The Citizens’ Peace Watch’s requests to various members of the cabinet,
military officials, and the US embassy for meetings and for an inspection
of US military facilities in the country was effectively rejected, with a
Philippine military official saying that such requests would be acted on in
“two months or in 2013.”
“What exactly are they hiding here? Why all this secrecy?,” asked Amabella
Carumba of the Mindanao People’s Peace Movement, a member of the mission.
The following organizations are represented in the Citizens Peace Watch
mission: Alyansa ng Kabataan sa Mindanao para sa Kapayapaan, Anak Mindanao
Party List, Balay Rehabilitation Center, Bangsamoro Women’s Foundation,
Citizen’s Coalition for Human Rights, Focus on the Global South, KaisaKa,
Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya, Lanao Alliance of Human Rights
Advocates (LAHRA), Mindanao Peoples Caucus, Mindanao Peoples Peace
Movement, Mindanao Tri-People Women Forum, Moro Human Rights Center, Muslim
Women’s Organization, Peace Women Partners, Peacebuilders Community, Pinay
Kilos (PINK), Resource Center for People’s Development, STOP the War
Coalition Philippines, Sumpay Mindanao, Task Force Detainees of the
Philippines, Tulong Lupah Sug, Inc
REFERENCE:
Atty Corazon Fabros: +639178871153