MASSACRE OF MOROS: President Duterte shows photos of the Bud Dajo Massacre of Moro people, which involved American soldiers on a counter-insurgency mission in Jolo in 1906, in questioning US criticisms of his current campaign against illegal drugs, especially extrajudicial killings. He spoke after his new appointees took their oaths of office.
Duterte said he wanted U.S. forces out of his country’s south and blamed America for the restiveness of Muslim militants in the region.
The Philippine President has had a not-so friendly relationship with the U.S. since he became president and has been very critical of American security policies. He continues to declare a foreign policy that would not be dependent on America.
The U.S. military in 2002 deployed troops to train, advise and provide intelligence and weapons to Filipino troops battling the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippines. When the American forces withdrew in February last year, U.S. officials said a smaller contingent of U.S. military advisers would stay.
In opposing U.S. military presence in the Mindanao region, Duterte cited the killings of Muslim Filipinos during a U.S. pacification campaign in the early 1900s. He said it was the root of the long Muslim restiveness.
“For as long as we stay with America, we will never have peace in that land,” Duterte said. He showed black-and-white pictures of what he described as Muslim Filipinos, including children and women, who were slain by U.S. forces in the early 1900s. “The special forces, they have to go. “I do not want a rift with America, but they have to go.”
Americans, the president said, would also be in constant danger in the south from local extremists like the brutal Abu Sayyaf militants. “If they see Americans, they’ll really kill them.”
Obama called off what could have been his first meeting with Duterte on the sidelines of an Asian summit in Laos after the Philippine president prefaced a warning on Obama against lecturing him on human rights with a Tagalog slur “putang ina” (son of a bitch).
Despite the profane remark, the two leaders shook hands and had a brief chat in a holding room, where Duterte explained that his words were not directed at Obama.
While critical of U.S. policies, Duterte had taken steps to repair relations with China, which were strained under his predecessor over disputes in the South China Sea.
In his speech, Mr. Duterte repeated comments when he accused the United States of committing atrocities against Muslims over a century ago on Jolo island in the South.
American troops are staying in the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City. Both US and Philippine military officials declined to give the exact number of American soldiers.
Early this year, US troops trained elite policemen on marksmanship. The 45-day marksmanship training focused on enhancing the skills and capabilities of Special Action Force (SAF) men.
Also early this year, US troops trained SAF men on tactical combat care or life-saving support inside the Zamboanga Ecozone and Freeport Authority in Barangay San Ramon. (Associated Press)