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Philippine naval officer discusses the extension of the War on Terror
Photos by JASON FELKER
Mirror: What’s
a retired navy captain like you doing speaking at an event like the
Anti-war Conference? Danilo Vismanos:
When I joined the Philippine Navy, I was a real American boy. “Am-boy,”
they called me. The turning point was the Vietnam War. I was Inspector
General of the Philippines Civic Action Group. When I arrived in Saigon,
I saw in a hospital ward, children, seven years old, victims of napalm
bombing, with third-degree burns. I asked myself, “What did these
children do to deserve this?” It had a strong effect on me. In
1972, when [then-dictator Ferdinand] Marcos declared martial law, I
resigned my commission. M: You’ve
been active in the Troops Out campaign for many years. That means the
American attempt to re-establish a military presence in the Philippines
and the Filipino movement to prevent it aren’t new things that
started after September 11. Can you give some background on that? DV: Even
if the September 11 incident had not happened, the Americans would still
go back to the Philippines. In September 1991, a nationalist-oriented
Philippine Senate rejected the renewal of the U.S. Philippine military
bases’ lease. We have a new constitution and it says that no foreign
military bases are allowed in the Philippines. You know, I think that
one of the reasons why they came out with the constitution like that,
why the people decided to have the Americans out, was because of the
long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, which the Americans supported.
When the Americans have bases in our country, they take too much interest
in our politics. M: Before
the American troops left for the Philippines last winter, our press
told us they’re only going for one small campaign against one small
group on one small island. They didn’t even call it a combat mission,
they said it was “a training exercise with live fire and live targets.”
What have the Americans been doing there for the last few months? DV: The
Americans came back under the pretext of a joint military exercise,
called Balikatan 02-1. They were supposed to be training officers, but
it came out that combat troops arrived in [the southern Philippine island]
Mindanao—the special forces. They have to use the training exercise
as a pretext—if it’s combat, then they violate the constitution. M: Last
week there was a firefight on Basilan island [off western Mindanao],
with the Islamic resistance group Abu Sayyaf, after which the army displayed
some Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) paraphernalia. Would you call
this an effort to escalate the war? DV: The
American commander of the Pacific, Admiral Blair, announced that American
troops will be deployed outside of Basilan, in Mindanao, because of
the explosions [in General Santos City, April 21]. So they are really
expanding their role in the Philippines. M: Do you
believe they’re also escalating the war to include the NPA (New
People’s Army), operating in Luzon in the northern Philippines? DV: There
are now two “exercises” going on. The first is Balikatan 02-1,
in Mindanao and Basilan, directed against the Abu Sayyaf and eventually
against the MILF. The other one is Balikatan 02-2, in the island of
Luzon, north of Manila. M: Our press
said 160 Green Berets would go to Basilan. How many Americans are there
now? DV: There are now
1,240 in Mindanao and 2,630 in Luzon. M: You mentioned
“civic action”. The Americans say they’re doing “civic
action” in Mindanao… DV: They are going to construct an airfield in Basilan, and a seaport and a highway. They are going to improve everything there for military operations. This is not civic action. The people of Basilan will not benefit from this. They’re building a military infrastructure. That’s permanent. Maybe they think they’re in the Philippines for a picnic. But I don’t think the MILF or the NPA will allow them to have a picnic. : For more conference info, call 848-7970 or visit www.awag2002.com |
Captain
Danilo Vismanos, Philippines Navy, ret., isn’t your typical Third
World high-ranking military officer, with the sunglasses, gold braid
and shifty-eyed American adviser at his side. He’s a leader in
the movement to keep American troops from returning to the Philippines
and active in BAYAN (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan—the New Patriotic
Alliance), the largest left-wing umbrella organization in the country.
He’s also the keynote speaker at the Anti-war Conference being
held at Concordia and McGill, May 9–12. The Mirror spoke to him
about the new American presence in the Philippines, possibly one of
the next theatres in the War on Terror.