BBC. 17 January 2002. Philippine inquiry into US troops.
The Philippine senate is to hold public hearings on the legality of plans to deploy more than 600 US troops in the south of the country. Presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao has admitted that even Vice President Teofisto Guingona has raised questions over the plans to deploy US troops. A former senator, Francisco Tatad, has accused President Gloria Arroyo of turning the Philippines into an extension of Afghanistan. The US is a former colonial power, and nationalist sentiment in the country is opposed to US involvement. John McLean, the BBC's Manila correspondent, says many Filipinos suspect the US wants to open a second front in its war on terrorism. He says there is speculation that the joint exercises are a cover for a US operation to rescue an American couple kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf. Our correspondent says people's suspicions about the US have been reinforced because the training exercises will include live firing exercises on Basilan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Barry Stoller http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProletarianNews
