| The Philippines-US relations and War on terror |
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| World Affairs Talk | |
| Wednesday, 17 January 2007 | |
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The Philippines has historically been America's key military base, listening post, and naval port in the Far East region. After the Spanish-American War in 1898, Spain relinquished the Philippines to the US. The nation was under American administration until the Japanese took control during World War II. In 1946, the Philippines became an independent representative democracy. From 1946 to 1992, the U.S. maintained air and naval bases in the Philippines which were later closed at the request of the Philippine government. In 1998, the US and the Philippines accomplished the ‘Visiting Forces Agreement’ paving the way for increased military cooperation between them. This agreement enables the US to conduct Naval visits to Philippine ports and engages in military exercises with Philippine forces. In May 2003, President Gorge W. Bush announced that the US will designate the Philippines as its major non-NATO ally. The Philippines continued to receive various forms of military assistance from the US; only in 2003, it received $2.4 million, the largest in Asia and the second largest in the world. Apart from this, these countries maintain strong trade ties; Philippines ranks as America's 19th-largest export market and 20th-largest supplier; the US on the other hand is the Philippines' largest foreign investor. Four major terrorist groups are active in the Philippines today; The Moro National Liberation Front, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Abu Sayyaf and the New People's Army. The first three are mostly Islamic groups that operate primarily in the southern region, where most of the Muslim minority live. The Communist New People's Army operates in the northern Philippines. Every anti-guerrilla campaign of the US forces has been victorious, and every election, real or rigged, has produced the winner the US government desired. The Philippines government fights terrorism within the country through political, legal and military means. The US supported and helped the Philippines in amending its anti-money laundering legislation to meet international standards. Washington also installed the Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP) in the Philippines with adequate equipments, software and provided trainings to the personnel. In 2002, law enforcement agencies of the two nations cooperated to bring charges against 15 Abu Sayyaf terrorists. The US trained around 700 Filipino law enforcement officers to fight with the militants efficiently. Also in 2002, the US deployed about 650 American advisers to train Philippine soldiers in counterterrorism techniques. Only in 2006, the military ties of the two nations faced a crack after three US marines were accused of raping a Filipino woman. The US government decided to cancel the scheduled exercise with the Philippines Army as consequences. Foreign relation between Philippines and the US is much deep rooted to be hampered by this. Both the countries expressed their urge to overcome the current raw and prosper bilaterally both in Military and economic terms. All these indicate that the relationship between the two nations are far deep rooted and meant to go a long way. Share & Bookmark             |
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