US adds more muscle in fight versus Sayyaf

WASHINGTON — Some 280 servicemen from a US Navy construction brigade, known as Seabees, backed by 60 Marine security escorts, arrived in Basilan yesterday to start work on $4 million (P200 million) worth of infrastructure improvements on the strife-torn island.

A Pentagon spokesman, sensitive to the US government’s declared aversion to "nation-building" exercises, emphasized the military value of the infrastructure although Manila has said the additional deployment was a "civic action" of the visiting US forces.

Reuters quoted Pentagon spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Davis as saying the construction work was being done for military purposes.

"We do expect these projects to provide benefits to the people of Basilan. However, they are being undertaken to provide infrastructure improvements directly required for our ongoing military efforts in Basilan to enhance the capabilities of the Philippine armed forces," he said.

In Zamboanga City, Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu said the construction works would boost the military’s fight against terrorism in Western Mindanao.

"We are now in the phase of eliminating the root cause of terrorism with this development effort. Their effort is very impressive," Cimatu told reporters as the Seabees and their marine escorts disembarked from the USS Germantown anchored off Basilan.

They arrived with bulldozers, payloaders, graders, trucks and other heavy equipment that were unloaded and ferried via two landing craft units (LCUs) to Tabiawan beach near the headquarters of the 103rd Army Brigade at the outskirts of Basilan’s capital of Isabela City.

The Seabees, assisted by Filipino military engineers, will build airstrips, pave roads, dig wells, and improve a causeway that would be used to unload cargo from ships.

The US engineers, led by US Marine Lt. Col. Brian Hearnsberger, are officially part of the joint RP-US "Balikatan 02-1" military exercise which is training local troops in its fight against homegrown terrorism.

Hearnsberger said the Seabees will only be in Basilan for 60 days in compliance with the terms of reference of Balikatan 02-1 which ends in July.

Army Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster said that while the construction work would ultimately benefit Basilan residents, he said it was being pursued to accomplish the objective of their mission.

"Our mission here is to train and advise the Philippine military to defeat terrorism in the southern Philippines," Wurster said.

"So while we are supporting our allies in a manner that would defeat terrorism, the benefit to the civilian population is the answer. It’s good for the military, it’s good for the country, it’s good for the people," he added.

Local officials, led by Basilan Gov. Wahab Akbar, said the arrival of the US military engineers was " a very big thing for the province."

"This means development. This means peace and order. This means economic stability. This means education. This means everything for the province," Akbar said. - With Roel Pareño