Balikatan 02-2 starts
Balikatan 02-2 commenced on April 22, with 2,665 American troops joining it. This is the biggest Balikatan compared to those previously conducted. Also participating in the exercises are 2,900 Filipino soldiers. The exercises that will last until May 6, are currently being held at the Clark Air Base in Pampanga, Crow Valley in Tarlac, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija and the Marine Jungle Base in Ternate, Cavite.
In this regard, Aeta communities have expressed concern about detachments being set up by the AFP in their areas and the definite rise in human rights violations that would result. The AFP has been setting up detachments to prepare for Balikatan. Curfews have also been enforced in communities accused of providing refuge to the NPA.
Prior to this, the regime made much ado about the call by the Communist Party chairperson to launch a war of national liberation in case American troops directly attack the revolutionary movement and the people. This was used by the regime to make renewed threats against the revolutionary forces and all its supporters.
In addition, 40 Aeta families are being evicted from their homes in Sitio Tarukan, Barangay Sta. Juliana, Capas, Tarlac near the Crow Valley Gunnery Range. They are being forced to live in schoolhouses because participants of Balikatan 02-2 supposedly plan to fire live bullets.
Crow Valley is part of the Aeta�s ancestral lands. It was seized by the US for use as an extension of the former Clark Air Base in Pampanga. Up to 300 Aeta families currently live and farm in Crow Valley.
More troops, extension approved for Balikatan 02-1
Macapagal-Arroyo formally approved on April 19 the entry of an additional 340 American troops in Basilan. The entry of 280 US Navy seabees and 60 Marines had earlier been ordered by US Defense Sec. Donald Rumsfeld. According to Balikatan 02-1 co-director for training Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodisio, the American soldiers would assist in setting up infrastructure. This is also in preparation for the long-term basing by American troops in the country.
Macapagal-Arroyo had earlier declared her support for a planned extension of Balikatan 02-1. The regime would like to make it appear that the extension is in accordance with the request of Basilan residents for the American troops to finish the infrastructure projects they had begun. Since the beginning, it has been clear that the US had no plans to adhering to the provisions of the Terms of Reference.
Human rights violations rampant in Basilan
Up to 133 Basilan residents, including five women, have been arrested by the police and military since the campaign against Abu Sayyaf bandits began in July 2001. Many of those arrested remain incarcerated even if they have the right and capability to post bail for the cases filed against them. No trial dates have as yet been scheduled for the detainees.
The Department of Justice issued a memorandum last year allowing warrantless arrests. The memorandum was premised on Macapagal-Arroyo�s declaration of a state of lawlessness in Basilan.
Supreme Court rules in favor of Balikatan 02-1
In a move in favor of trampling on Philippine independence, the Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 10-3 that Balikatan 02-1 was "legal and constitutional". Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was not supposedly guilty of abuse of authority. The Supreme Court was also supposedly not in a position to judge whether the training was actually a military operation.
Moros in Cagayan de Oro take action against Balikatan
More than 200 Moros rallied in Cagayan de Oro City on April 6 to oppose the continued presence of American troops in Basilan and Zamboanga and assail George W. Bush�s "war without borders". More than 50 Maranaos from Cagayan de Oro and Marawi City also conducted a forum on March 17.
Prior to this, Out of Minda Now!, a multisectoral coalition against Balikatan 02-1 was established in Cagayan de Oro City on February 23. The coalition includes 104 church people, professionals, students, women, lawyers and representatives of other sectors from Cagayan de Oro and other parts of Misamis Oriental. Youth in Mindanao, an anti-Balikatan youth coalition, was also established.
Mass actions in US and Canada waged
Hundreds of members of the Filipino Workers� Association (FWA) and other workers and activists in San Francisco, California conducted an anti-imperialist march in Oakland on March 23.
In Vancouver, Canada, more than 100 Filipinos gathered on March 18 to discuss US intervention in the Philippines. It was an extension of the international day of action called on March 17 by Migrante International to end US military presence in the Philippines.
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