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Inquirer News Service. 21 April 2002. Golez: US troops may stay beyond 'Balikatan' exercises. Excerpts. The additional 340 Americans taking part in the RP-US Balikatan 02-1 just arrived Saturday morning and already National Security Adviser Roilo Golez is saying they can stay on even after the military exercise ends in July. Golez said in an interview that the US Navy engineers, or Seabees, could stay until the infrastructure projects they planned to undertake in Basilan had been completed. "If they are not yet finished by July, why not (allow them to stay on)? Sayang naman. They are bringing in good equipment." The other day, Golez said the Seabees would try to complete their work within 60 days because the rainy season was expected to begin in June, making their work difficult. Golez said the planned four million dollars worth of infrastructure projects would jumpstart Basilan's economy. Capt. Noel Detoyato, spokesperson of the Armed Forces' Southern Command, on Saturday said the newly arrived US troops had set a 60-day period within which to complete their projects. "They will do their projects simultaneously and will rush them before the rainy season starts," Detoyato said in a phone interview. "After that, they will leave. They have no intention of staying longer." The US contingent, composed of 280 Navy Seabees and 60 Marines, landed around 7:30 a.m. on Barangay Tabiawan in Isabela City, Basilan. Basilan Gov. Wahab Akbar grinned from ear to ear as he watched the Americans disembark and unload heavy equipment from the Okinawa-based USS Germantown. "My happiness is indescribable, my dream is now starting to materialize," he told the Inquirer. "I know that I can die 10 times and not be able to purchase this equipment for my people." The Americans unloaded eight graders, 11 bulldozers, seven pocket loaders, six compactors, eight cargo trucks, 10 dump trucks, two tractor trailers, a crane, two excavators and a water wheel drilling ridge. But amid the welcoming mood, Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad aired his anxieties to the Inquirer. "I really welcome their good gesture, no doubt about that, but I cannot understand why there is a need to extend their stay here. I am now becoming apprehensive of their real intention," he said. Jumoad said he had been made to understand that the US troops were taking part in the Balikatan solely to enhance the Philippine military's capability to crush the Abu Sayyaf, which is still holding hostage an American missionary couple and a Filipino nurse. "All I knew was that it would be for plain military exercises only," he said. "(Now they) will be in Basilan for a long period of time. I'm getting confused." "(The extension) was not included in the plan," he said. But Akbar said he wanted the six-month Balikatan exercise extended up to six years. "Six months are not enough for a comprehensive program," he said. "Six years would be the ideal length of extension." In Malacaņang, acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable agreed that the Seabees were not bound to the duration of Balikatan 02-1. "Of course they cannot leave if their work is not yet finished," he said. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
