A disastrous raid on alleged Muslim militants has ignited the worst political crisis yet for Philippine President Benigno Aquino III — and questions about the extent of any US role in the operation are deepening his discomfort.
Some Philippine legislators are asking whether the US military played a leading role in the January operation that ended with 44 police commandos dead in a field in the nation’s Muslim-majority south.
They refer to reports that a US drone was flying over the area at the time, said to be beaming images to US commanders as the fiasco unfolded.
Photo: EPA
Philippine Senate President Franklin Drilon, a powerful member of Aquino’s ruling Liberal Party, is one of at least five senators to have raised questions about what the US knew.
“Did the [US] FBI know beforehand about this operation?” Drilon asked former Philippine National Police Special Action Forces chief Getulio Napenas, who lost his job over the affair.
“Or any US armed forces personnel, did they know about this operation beforehand?” Drilon added.
Under the terms of an antiterrorism training deployment, the US is not permitted to engage in combat in the Philippines.
A US government official told reporters that US troops helped evacuate casualties, but that the operation was “planned and executed by Philippine authorities,” and declined to comment further.
Meanwhile, Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario declined to give a direct answer when asked about any US role, speaking only in generalities about US help to Manila in suppressing militancy.
“With the United States, we have very close counterterrorism cooperation,” Del Rosario told reporters via text message.
The predawn raid by officers on a secluded farming village controlled by Muslim rebels in the south was meant to be a surprise attack to capture or kill two men on the US government’s global list of “most-wanted terrorists.”
Even though one of the alleged militants was reportedly killed, hundreds of rebels quickly outnumbered the officers, trapping a group in a cornfield and slaughtering 44 during a day-long battle.
The botched operation has seriously damaged Aquino’s position, and forced Napenas to resign.
However, many politicians, media outlets and netizens are broadening the net to encompass possible US involvement as they probe the affair.
Both houses of parliament have launched inquiries, which have sought specifics on any US role.
In hearings broadcast live on television, authorities have declined to give a full explanation on the extent of any US involvement, citing security issues.
Once, Napenas began detailing some of US participation, saying that US “counterparts” provided intelligence, training and maps.
However, before he could elaborate, Philippine Secretary of Justice Leila de Lima, who was at the hearing, intervened to silence him.
“May I interject? May I just remind the officer that he is already dwelling on matters of diplomatic relations and military intelligence,” she said.
In another hearing, Napenas confirmed that a US helicopter was used to evacuate casualties, although authorities have refused to disclose where it came from.
Philippine and US authorities have also said a severed finger believed to be from reportedly slain militant Malaysian national Zulkifli bin Hir was given to the FBI.
The FBI said it did a DNA test on the finger, which showed it was likely bin Hir’s.
US military involvement in the Philippines is not unusual, as the two nations are longtime allies.
Until last month, the US had a unit of about 500 to 600 special forces in the southern Philippines who trained local troops to fight militants, but was not allowed to engage in combat.
Philippine Senator Grace Poe, another Aquino ally and expected by some to succeed him as president next year, sought answers in one of the congressional inquiries about the reports that a US drone monitored the battle.
Those reports said the drone fed footage to a Philippine command center, where US authorities helped to direct police officers into and through the battle.
“I am concerned because actual participation — if any — of US forces in the operation of a purely law enforcement operation, like service of warrants to accused [suspects], albeit known terrorists who are themselves wanted criminals in the US, should not be allowed,” Poe said via text message.
Aquino’s critics have called on him to resign, but the biggest potential consequence could be the damage the affair has done to his efforts at ending a decades-long Muslim separatist rebellion that has killed tens of thousands.
A plan to secure a peace treaty with the nation’s biggest Muslim rebel group before his term ends in the middle of next year is in jeopardy, as some politicians in Congress use the raid to fan opposition to the deal.
Political commentator Ramon Casiple said Aquino needed to give a detailed response or risk allowing anti-US sentiment to build.
“The senators and the public are [also] asking if we were dictated upon... It is a question of sovereignty,” he told reporters. “Why was a foreign government allowed to bring their war here?”
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of