NDF: After Clinton visit, Mindanao may be next Afghanistan

Following US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s reaffirmation of ties between the Philippine and US military forces, the communist National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) warned Saturday that Mindanao may loom as the next Afghanistan. NDF Mindanao spokesman Jorge “Ka Oris" Madlos said the US’ military will be caught in a “spiral of armed mass resistance" if it insists on its presence in the south. “Should the US refuse and instead continue heightening its military intervention and escalate its participation in counter-guerrilla operations, Mindanao and the entire Philippines could become another Afghanistan, Iraq or Vietnam where its forces will be caught in a spiral of armed mass resistance," Madlos said in a statement posted on the Communist Party of the Philippines website. During her visit to the Philippines, Clinton defended the VFA, which she described as “an important expression of (RP-US) partnership." She said the VFA is based on mutual respect and interest, citing the relief and rehabilitation efforts undertaken by US servicemen in the wake of recent cyclones. Madlos noted that the US Pacific Command has a 600-strong Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTFP) now based in Mindanao. “Despite persistent denials of Philippine and US officials, there is clear proof that US soldiers have been participating in counter-guerrilla operations jointly with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Mindanao and other parts of the Philippines. However, US military officials have been more forthright in bragging about the participation of American soldiers in operations against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf," he said. This year, US military elements were documented to have had an active role along with AFP regular troops in four operations in Quezon town, and Malaybalay and Valencia Cities in Bukidnon province. American soldiers penetrated local villages in search of local guerrilla units of the New People’s Army (NPA), he claimed. “Since 2002, American troops have also been sighted in other parts of Mindanao, as well as in Samar, Panay, Bicol, Southern Tagalog and Central Luzon," he added. Madlos said US forces are bound to suffer a bigger number of casualties if they continue in anti-guerrilla operations. Last September, he said at least two American soldiers were killed when they were ambushed in Indanan, Sulu by local armed groups. Earlier this year, an American soldier was wounded in Bicol when NPA fighters ambushed an AFP unit he was embedded in. Madlos said the NPA has launched tactical offensives and sanctions across Mindanao as one way of underscoring the demand for the Obama government to withdraw its forces from the country and to end its interventionist policy. He also denounced what he called Clinton’s “publicity gimmick" to have her picture taken with the victims of recent cyclones. “It is a historical fact that US logging and mining companies and big agribusiness corporations have been the biggest plunderers of Philippine natural resources and pollutants of the environment. The destruction that they have caused and continue to cause is the single-biggest cause of landslides, flooding and ecological imbalance. They are among the biggest landgrabbers that have displaced millions of peasants and indigenous peoples in Mindanao and the entire country," he said. According to Madlos, if the US was sincere in the Filipinos' plight over the continued degradation of the environment, it would order logging and mining concessions and big agribusiness corporations to immediately stop their operations. - GMANews.TV