By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY
A Philippine lawmaker is calling for an inquiry into the role of U.S. special forces troops in combating insurgent groups in the southern Philippines over the last 13 years.
Terry Ridon said he would table a request Monday for a review of the activities of the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines.
The unit, known by the acronym JSOTF-P, withdrew from Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City on the southern island of Mindanao this week, having first arrived in January 2002.
At its peak, the unit numbered around 600 troops on Mindanao, where a number of insurgency groups, most notably the al-Qaeda-affiliated Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, have been fighting government troops.
The unit’s mission is defined as advising and assisting the Philippine military "against violent extremist organizations throughout the southern Philippines."
"The JSOTF-P is one of the most controversial U.S. military programs in the Philippines," Ridon said in a statement.
"Several whistleblowers… have revealed that this special U.S. force engages in direct combat in Mindanao. As such, we cannot just let them depart without conducting a review of the program’s performance, undertakings and their past activities with Philippine forces."
He said he wanted the task force commander and U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg to testify before Congress on "what exactly these special troops were doing in Mindanao during their 13-year stint there."
Ridon said he was particularly concerned at the revelation that 17 U.S. troops had died during the task force mission.
He added: "We have to emphasize that our constitution bans [the] direct combat involvement of U.S. troops. If these U.S. servicemen died in combat in Mindanao, then we are looking at cases of serious infringement of our sovereignty."
Following a battle on Jan. 25 in Mamasapano, Maguindanao province, rumors circulated that U.S. forces were involved in the operation, during which 44 police commandos were killed.
"There are serious allegations of U.S. military intervention -- through the JSOTF-P -- in the botched Mamasapano operation." Ridon said. "The JSOTF-P’s involvement in intelligence-gathering, surveillance and reconnaissance have been widely reported yet the U.S. Embassy [has] remained mum."
He added: "A review of the JSOTF-P operations in the Philippines will reveal the extent of U.S. military intervention in the Philippines. We cannot let an affront to our national sovereignty slip out of our islands quietly."
U.S. military activity is a thorny issue in the Philippines, a former U.S. colony. There are a number of bases on the islands and joint exercises are regularly conducted.
