It’s final: Balikatan under AFP command

The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines will be the overall commander of the "Balikatan 02-01" joint military exercises between Filipino and American troops, with the war games confined mainly to strife-torn Basilan island.

This was the compromise agreement reached after a telephone conference early yesterday morning between Vice President and Foreign Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr. and US Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell was unavailable so his deputy was assigned to talk to Guingona to iron out kinks in the provisions for the joint exercises to start Friday.

The apparent snub did not seem to bother Guingona, who said sticky points in the terms of reference (TOR) for Balikatan, which are to be signed by both parties tomorrow, had been resolved.

"I had a telephone conference with Colin Powell but it was through James Kelly because he (Powell) was unavailable," Guingona said in an ambush interview. Powell had reportedly given Kelly full authority to talk with Guingona on the issue.

Under the TOR, the AFP will be the commanding authority during the exercises, with chief of staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva to give directions to Balikatan co-director Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster.

Citing the Visiting Forces Agreement, Guingona strongly dismissed suggestions by US State Department lawyers that authority for the exercises be shared by the US and Filipino commanders.

Guingona said under the VFA, any activity of US troops should be under the authority of the Philippine government.

"That means by the President and through her alter-ego, the chief of staff of the AFP," he stressed. "We have to fight for the principles, fight for the Philippines."

Coming from a Cabinet meeting at Malacañang, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez agreed.

"The Filipinos will be under Filipino commanders. The Americans will be under American commanders. But both of them are under the joint co-director of the exercise. But the co-directors are under the chief of staff," Perez explained.

He said as far as legal issues are concerned, there are no more problems to the signing of the TOR.

Guingona said the TOR will be signed either today or tomorrow by him and US Embassy charge d’ affaires Robert Fitts on behalf of Powell.

‘Quite settled’

President Arroyo said yesterday the TOR for Balikatan 02-01 appeared to be "quite settled" after the Guingona-Kelly teleconference.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told Palace reporters that Powell "was not available and designated and gave full powers" to Kelly.

"According to the Vice President, there are no hitches in the terms of reference. There were just some very, very minor ticks, words would be changed," Tiglao said, adding the teleconference took place at 7 a.m. yesterday.

He said Kelly apparently went back to his superiors after the teleconference to apprise them of the final discussions with Guingona.

"Secretary Kelly conferred with the state secretary or even higher up perhaps to make it clear that it (TOR) carries the full weight of the US and Philippine governments," Tiglao said.

"No major contentious issues really. They just worked out if Kelly needs to come here to sign (the TOR) or who will be the designated authority," he explained.

In Zamboanga City, AFP Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu was optimistic that the long overdue TOR would be signed shortly.

"Then that’s the time we will be starting to move some of the advance party to Basilan, but as of now we are still intact here," he said.

Cimatu, overall commander of the Philippine military in Mindanao, said the training will be moved once the TOR is formally signed.

He said the bottom line is the training of the troops of both countries "as far as the aspect of the anti-terrorism campaign is concerned."

"This will be the first phase of the training which we will use in our operations against the Abu Sayyaf and the rescue operation," he said.

For his part, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes said the Philippine government also highlighted concern for the environment in the TOR.

Reyes said they have included an annex in the Balikatan 02-01 TOR to include the preservation of the environment and surroundings of selected exercise venues.

"We are expecting that once the terms of reference are already out, they will be acceptable to everyone," he said.

Around 300 American soldiers out of a total 660 troops are already in Zamboanga, billeted in the Southern Command headquarters and at the 3rd Tactical Operation Wing in Edwin Andrews Airforce Base.

The American forces continue rushing up completion of the preparation phase, installing communication satellites and unloading logistics support coming from Okinawa, Japan.

The US also contracted the Russian-made Antonov cargo plane that arrived Monday night also from Okinawa and unloaded several vehicles that will be utilized for the duration of the exercise.

Skirting protocol?

Guingona and Powell were originally scheduled to hold a teleconference but it was canceled at the last minute and a telephone conversation was then set.

But Guingona learned that Powell was unable to talk with him because he had an important matter to attend to.

Protocol dictates that a government official should only call on his counterpart or can be summoned by someone with the same rank.

Sources said US Embassy officials go directly to the President instead of passing through the proper channel which is the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The sources cited the case of former US Embassy charge d’ affaires Michael Malinowski who disregarded protocol by going directly to President Arroyo.

Guingona added he no longer sees the need to meet with Powell before the signing of the TOR to cover Balikatan 02-01 because contentious issues have already been resolved in the conversation with Kelly. – Pia Lee-Brago, Marichu Villanueva, Roel Pareño